SBP Reserves Decline by $75 Million

The foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) witnessed outflows of $75 million in the week that ended on May 20, 2022, depicting a 0.7 percent decline on a week-on-week basis. The SBP weekly report released on Thursday revealed that the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves went down by $11 million (0.1 percent) on May 20, 2022, to $16.15 billion, compared to $16.16 billion in the previous week. The SBP reserves decreased by $75 million to $10.08 billion (0.7 percent), compared to $10.16 billion a week earlier. Meanwhile, the net foreign reserves held by the commercial banks stood at $6.06 billion, depicting an increase of $64 million (1.1 percent) on a weekly basis. The decline in foreign exchange is attributed to the payment against debt servicing to various lenders, market reaction to home politics, and the global onslaught of inflationary pressures. Speaking of bailouts, Pakistan imported petroleum products worth $100 million on a deferred payment basis under the Saudi oil facility for the second consecutive month in April 2022. The facility is expected to help the government to bring back forex reserves at a sustainable level in order to control rupee devaluation and make timely payments to lenders.