Karachi: In a very alarming development, Pakistan’s forex reserves dropped massively by $327 million to reach its lowest level since July 2019.
A weekly data by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on the summary of the total forex reserves held by Pakistan revealed that during the week that ended on November 25, the SBP-held reserves declined by $327 million to reach $7.498 billion.
However, the forex reserves held by commercial banks also increased by $60 million to reach $5.879 billion.
Cumulatively, the total foreign exchange reserves witnessed a fall of $267 million to settle at $13.378 billion.
Alarm bells: Pakistan’s reserves fall by $956 million in a week
Pakistan receives $500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
In a major boost to the depleting forex reserves of Pakistan, the government on Tuesday received $500 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
“The funds are deposited with SBP and will augment our reserves,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Ishaq Dar had confirmed that the board of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had approved $500 million as co-financing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded BRACE program for Pakistan.
“These Funds will be received by [the] State Bank of Pakistan within November 2022,” he had claimed.
BRACE (Building Resilience with Active Counteryclical Expenditures Programme) is an Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing program to counter the social fallouts of economic crises.
Last month, Pakistan had also received $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) program.
The ADB had approved $1.5 billion in financing to help the Pakistan government provide social protection, promote food security, and support employment for its people amid devastating floods and global supply chain disruptions.
