Karachi: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) took another hit and fell by $389 million, a fall attributed “mainly to external debt repayments”.
According to the data released by the central bank, as of July 15, the total reserves held by the country fell from $15.61 billion on July 7 to $15.24 billion on July 15.
Read: Forex reserves drop by $132mln: SBP
While the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $5.91 billion – witnessed an increase of $20 million during the week under review.
The reserves’ position is critical for Pakistan, which is desperately seeking dollar inflows to meet its balance-of-payments needs. A low level of reserves has also caused severe pressure on its currency and stock markets, with the rupee touching record lows throughout the ongoing week.
Its stock market has also moved in tandem, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index falling below the 40,000 level for the first time since November 2020.
