SBP reserves fall by $303 million to 3-year low of $7.6 Billion
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves dropped by $303 million to a three-year low of $7.597 billion in the week ending Oct 7, the central bank said.
The SBP said that the reduction in foreign exchange reserves was due to repayments of external debt, including trade loans, interest and Eurobonds.
During the week, the amount held by commercial banks decreased by about $39 million to $5.6 billion.
The country’s total foreign exchange reserves now stand at $13.247 billion, which is $342.2 million less than last week.
By the end of the financial year 2018-19, the central bank had reserves of $7.29 billion, which stood at $9.19 billion at the end of the previous financial year.
However, earlier it had also reached the level of $12.13 billion and then to %17.29 billion during the two fiscal years.
Meanwhile, the rupee fell 0.23 percent to Rs218.38 per dollar in the interbank market on Thursday.
The rupee had appreciated in 13 consecutive trading sessions, rising by nearly Rs22 from 239.71 on September 22 to 217.79 on October 11.
Currency market experts believe that falling foreign exchange reserves are threatening the rupee’s recent recovery at a time when the finance minister wants it to fall below Rs200 against the dollar.
They see the local currency struggling to make gains in the coming days, especially in the wake of the dollar’s bullish trend across the globe against all major currencies.
However, some significant developments are expected on the external fronts of the economy, such as the deferral of Chinese loans, and the inflow of funds from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other lending sources.
