KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves fell by $119 million as of May 19 and stood at just under $4.2 billion, data released on Thursday showed.
The overall number still stands at a critical level at around a month of import cover.
The country has $9.73 billion in total liquid foreign reserves. Commercial banks maintained $5.54 billion in net foreign reserves.
“During the week ended on May 19, 2023, SBP reserves decreased by $119 million to $4,193.0 million due to external debt repayments,” said the SBP in a statement.
Last week, SBP’s foreign exchange reserves decreased $72 million to $4.31 billion.
Pakistan’s reserves got a boost after the country received $300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the last of three disbursements.
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Cumulatively, Pakistan received $2 billion from Chinese institutions. This includes $700 million from the China Development Bank and $1.3 billion from ICBC.
Moreover, China also rolled over a $2-billion loan, lending further support to Pakistan’s faltering dollar reserves.
