Foreign exchange reserves deplete to $5.5 billion
According to data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the central bank's foreign exchange reserves decreased by 4.2% week over week.
The SBP's FX reserves were recorded at $5,576.5 million on December 30, 2022, down $245 million from $5,821.9 million on December 23.
Due to the repayment of external debt, reserves decreased. In total, the nation maintained $11,422.5 million in liquid foreign exchange reserves, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP. The total amount of net reserves held by banks was $5,846 million.
Earlier, as Pakistan paid off some of its external debt in the week that ended on December 23, the SBP's reserves fell by $294 million to $5,821.9 million.
Research houses said that the reserves had hit their lowest level since April 2014, a more than eight-and-a-half-year low, which was hardly enough to finance five weeks of imports.
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