August 25, 2022 (MLN):The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country decreased by $92million or 0.7% WoW to stand at $13.5 billion during the week ended on August 19, 2022, compared to $13.6bn in the previous week, weekly data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed.
Data further revealed that reserves held by the central bank during the week went down by $87mn or 1.1% WoW to clock in at $7.8bn compared to $7.9bn in the outgoing week.
On the other hand, reserves of commercial banks dropped by $4mn or 0.1% WoW to $5.7bn.
Meanwhile, it is important to note that, the current level of foreign currency reserves is barely enough to cover 1.11 months of import bills.
On Tuesday, SBP’s acting governor said thatPakistan’s foreign currency reserves are expected to touch $16bn in the current fiscal year, from $7.9bn in August as an IMF bailout tranche worth $1.2 billion will unlock other inflows.
The government officials are hopeful that the country will soon receive the funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the IMF’s Executive Board meeting for combined seventh and eighth reviews under the EFF has been scheduled for Aug 29.
The country’s deal with the fund to release two tranches worth $1.2bn under a stalled loan facility is trudging closer to the finish line.
On the forex front, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has depreciated by 7 paisa against the US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency settled the trade at Rs214.95 compared to yesterday's closing of 214.88 per USD.
