SBP Reserves Plunge by $298 Million

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell week-over-week by $298 million (1.64 percent). According to the central bank’s weekly report released on Thursday, the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves went down on December 24, 2021 to $24.2 billion. SBP’s reserves fell by $298.4 million to $17.855 billion during the week under review, compared to $18.153 billion on December 17. Meanwhile, the net foreign reserves held by the commercial banks amounted to $6.4 billion, depicting a decline of $11 million on a weekly basis. Overall, the liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the Central Bank stood at $24,273.6 million, down $359 million on a week-over-week basis. In the last 21 days alone, the foreign exchange reserves saw an outflow of $877 million on different accounts from debt payment to high imports cost. It is pertinent to note that back in August 2021, the foreign exchange reserves held by SBP umped to an all-time high of $20.15 billion after Pakistan received a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2,751.8 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on August 24. However, the bank’s reserves began to decline steadily during the same month, which the bank attributed to the fulfillment of debt repayments and other related regulations. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) finally stopped its losing streak against the US Dollar (USD) and appreciated by 72 paisas against the greenback in the interbank market on Thursday. It closed at Rs. 177.51 after closing at an all-time low of 178.24 in the interbank market on 29 December.