SBP reserves decrease by $783.8mn to $6.71bn

December 08, 2022 (MLN): Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $783.8 million to $6.71 billion during the week ended on December 2, 2022, according to the data released by the Central bank on Thursday.

This decline is on account of the payment of  $1bn against maturing Pakistan International Sukuk and some other external debt repayments.

Some of the debt repayments were offset by inflows, mainly $500 million received from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Reserves held by the commercial bank decreased by $12.7mn to $5.87bn.

Meanwhile, the total reserves held by the country decreased by $796.5mn to $12.58bn.

It is important to note that, the current level of foreign currency reserves is barely enough to cover 1.28 months of import bills.

On Thursday, PKR depreciated by 21 paisa against the US dollar in interbank session to settle the trade at PKR 224.37 per USD, compared to yesterday's closing of PKR 224.16 per USD.

It was the fourth consecutive session of the week wherein the local unit remained under pressure mainly due to depressing macros, and melting foreign exchange reserves.

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