Pakistan foriegn exchange reserves suffer major decline
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KARACHI - The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday reported a dip of $230.9mn in its foreign exchange reserves, because of the external debt servicing and other payments.
In a data released by the central bank in its weekly report, the reserves held by the SBP stood at $7.4bn whereas the forex reserves available with the commercial banks were at $6.54bn level.
Earlier on January 3, the SBP in its weekly had also reported a decline of $170 million, primarily because of payments in lieu of external debts and other payments including imports.
Pakistan is struggling to meet its debt-service requirements and is facing a balance-of-payments crisis which has resulted in a rapid decline of the reserves.
However, the situation is expected to improve soon as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has finalised a financial package for Pakistan worth $6.2bn, while a $1bn tranche from Saudi Arabia is likely to be released in the month of February.
