Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have reached about $20 billion: Hammad Azhar

January 22, 2021 (MLN): Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have increased to about twenty billion dollars, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar informed the Senate today.

He told the house during question hour that the State Bank of Pakistan has foreign exchange reserves of twelve to thirteen billion dollars, which have increased due to improvement in exports and remittances.

There has also been a record debt servicing during the tenure of the present government, as nearly ten billion dollars are being paid off annually, he further added.

Hammad Azhar said the current account has shown a surplus of 1.6 billion dollars during the first five months of current financial year against a deficit of 1.7 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.

He also said that special economic zones will be constructed under the mega China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, wherein construction work on three SEZs has already begun. 

Moreover, projects worth 1.7 billion dollars are in the phase of implementation in Gwadar under the CPEC. He said two projects have already been completed while seven projects worth 1.2 billion dollars projects are in the execution phase.

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