The foreign exchange reserves of the country dropped for the sixth straight week by $843.7 million (3.78 percent) on a week-on-week basis to reach $21.44 billion.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased on a weekly basis during the week ended on March 18 to $21.44 billion from $22.28 billion recorded on March 11,2022.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by 5.49 percent on a weekly basis. On March 18, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $14,962.4 million, down $869 million compared with $15,831.6 million on March 11. According to the central bank, the decrease came due to external debt and other payments.
Similarly, the reserves of commercial banks inched down by $25.5 million to $6.47 billion from $6.45 billion in the previous week.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board on February 2 approved Pakistan’s request for an $1 billion loan tranche. A meeting of the IMF’s Executive Board took place to discuss and finalise Pakistan’s request for the completion of the sixth Review and release of a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank soared to an all-time high of $20.15 billion after Pakistan received a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2,751.8 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on August 24.
