Alarm bells ring as SBP forex reserves plunge to nine-year low
Business
Now, the central bank and commercial banks’ foreign exchange reserves are at equal level
KARACHI (Dunya News) - The SBP-led foreign exchange reserves dropped below $6 billion at the end of last week, triggering an alarm for the economic managers of the country.
During the week ended Dec 23, 2022, the central bank s reserves further declined by $294 million to $5.822 billion as compared to $6.116 billion on Dec 16, 2022.
The drop was recorded due to external debt repayment. Now, the SBP and banks’ foreign exchange reserves are at equal level.
Total liquid foreign #reserves held by the country stood at US$ 11.71 billion as of December 23, 2022. For details https://t.co/WpSgomnKT3 pic.twitter.com/cVUHF6ZBg9
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) December 29, 2022
On the other hand, net foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks surged by $2 million to $5.885 billion.
During the period under review, the total liquid forex reserves held by the country fell by $292 million to stand at $11.707 billion.
Clocking around $18 billion at the outset of 2022, the reserves held by the SBP have witnessed significant depletion during the last 12 months.
