SBP-held foreign exchange reserves fall another $15mn, now stand at $6.7bn

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell another $15 million to an alarming level of $6.7 billion, data released on Thursday showed. This is the lowest level of SBP-held reserves since January 2019.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $12.57 billion as of December 9, 2022, said the SBP. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.87 billion.

“SBP’s reserves did not record any major change during the week ended on Dec 9, 2022, and closed at $6.7 billion,” said the central bank.

Last week, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP fell $784 million to $6.715 billion.

Falling reserves have increased worries over Pakistan’s ability to meet debt obligations, and increased perceived default risks, especially at a time the country is in the midst of an economic crisis and recovering from devastating floods that killed over 1,700 people.

The low level has prompted the SBP to take several administrative measures to control the outflow of dollars, and tame rupee’s depreciation against the US dollar.