KARACHI: Pakistani rupee’s winning streak against US dollar ended on Friday as the local currency depreciated 0.1% in the interbank market.
As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed at 221.64 after a depreciation of Rs0.22.
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/iN5Qb0mCM3 pic.twitter.com/TwPsimLhDV
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) November 11, 2022
On Thursday, rupee had registered a gain for the third consecutive session against the US dollar and closed at 221.42 after an appreciation of Re0.23 or 0.1%.
In a key development, foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged $956 million on a weekly basis, clocking in $7.96 billion as of November 4, 2022, as per data released on Thursday.
Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.72 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.76 billion.
“During the week ended on November 4, 2022, SBP’s reserves decreased by $956 million to $7,957.0 million due to external debt servicing,” said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in a statement.
“Major external debt repayments executed during the week include repayment of government’s commercial loans.”
The SBP further said that refinancing of these loans was in the process which would improve foreign exchange reserves in the coming weeks”.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the SBP will receive $500 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in the ongoing month.
