KARACHI: The country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves decreased by $11 million during last week.
According to the weekly foreign exchange reserves report issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Thursday, the total foreign exchange reserves held by the country stood at $ 16.150 billion as of May 20, 2022 from $16.161 billion as of May 13, 2022.
During the week under review, the SBP reserves decreased by $ 75 million to $ 10.089 billion due to external debt repayment. However, net foreign reserves held by commercial banks rose by $63 million to $6.061 billion
Presently, the country is facing a serious cash crisis due to depleting foreign exchange reserves. The government is making efforts to build the foreign exchange reserves and recently, Saudi Arabia has announced to rollover the $3 billion deposits with Pakistan.
In addition, the federal government is negotiating with the IMF for release of $900 million tranche of Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan, however, the Fund has linked the release of tranche with abolishment of subsidy on the petroleum products. The government is also making efforts to get $2.5 billion deposits from China to reduce the pressure on external accounts.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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