Foreign exchange reserves fall by $179 million

KARACHI: Another decrease of $17.9 million has been recorded in the official foreign exchange reserves.

According to the State Bank, the value of the government’s foreign exchange reserves fell below $4 billion due to continued pressure to pay off foreign debts.

In the week ended June 2, government reserves fell by $179 million to $3.912 billion. According to the central bank, the value of the total foreign exchange reserves has reached the level of 9 billion $334 million.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will present the budget for the next fiscal year 2023-24 today, this will be the second budget of the coalition government and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The federal budget for the next financial year has been prepared with a financial deficit of 7.7% of the GDP, a budget of more than Rs6,500 billion will be presented for the next financial year, an increase of 20% in salaries and 15% in pensions.

It is suggested that Rs430 billion will be allocated for the Benazir Income Support Program, while new taxes of more than 700 billion will be imposed in the budget, and the levy rate on petroleum products is likely to be increased further.