SBP reserves fall $500m in less than a month
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves plunged by over half a billion dollars in less than a month. On Thursday, the central bank announced that its forex holdings recorded an outflow of $252 million to $11.166 billion during the week that ended on Feb 7. However, the SBP reserves witnessed a steep decline of $559m from $11.725bn on Jan 10, mainly due to external debt repayments. Despite heavy buying from the interbank currency market, the SBP faces growing pressure to meet external debt repayment obligations amid falling reserves. The country’s overall foreign exchange reserves fell to $15.862bn, including $4.696bn held by the commercial banks during the week under review.