Islamabad: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)-held foreign exchange reserves took another hit and plunged by $112.8 million to hit the lowest level since July 2019.
According to a weekly report published on the status of forex reserves by the State Bank of Pakistan, as of August 26, the SBP-held reserves declined by $112.8 million to hit $7.69 billion from $7.8 billion recorded on August 19.
Similarly, the net reserves held by the commercial banks also dropped by $5.3 million to reach $5.70 billion from $5.71 billion.
Cumulatively, the total foreign exchange reserves in the country witnessed a fall of $118 million to reach $13.4 billion from $13.5 billion during the period week ended on August 26.
Pakistan receives $1.16 billion from IMF
However, analysts and the SBP believe that the foreign exchange reserves will improve with the addition of $1.16 billion from the IMF.
All you need to know about Pakistan, IMF deal
“This will help improve SBP’s foreign exchange reserves and will also facilitate the realization of other planned inflows from multilateral and bilateral sources,” the central bank said in a statement while announcing the arrival of a loan facility from the IMF
