ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s economic situation is worrisome as foreign exchange reserves held by the country’s central bank continue to decline, plunging by $245 million to reach $5.58 billion – the lowest since April 2014.
The data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan revealed that the total liquid foreign reserves held by the cash-strapped country now stood at $11.43 billion.
Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks now stand at $5.85 billion. “During the week ended on December 30, 2022, SBP’s reserves decreased by $245 million to $5,576.5 million due to external debt repayment,” the State Bank said in a statement.
Pakistan is battling the worst economic crisis in recent times and is in dire need of foreign aid to cut its current account deficit besides having enough reserves to pay the debt.
At the start of the previous year, the foreign exchange reserves stood at nearly $18 billion but nosedived in wake of political and economic instability.
Meanwhile, talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the ninth review seemed to have stalled as the country’s finance chief Ishaq Dar hoping to receive a $3 billion second bailout from Saudi Arabia within days.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/03-Jan-2023/nsc-took-major-decisions-to-steer-pakistan-out-of-economic-security-challenges-pm
Amid the dilapidating reserves, and unprecedented inflation, global rating agencies cut the long-term sovereign credit rating of the South Asian nation by one notch to ‘CCC+’ from ‘B’ showing a weakening of the country’s external, fiscal and economic metrics.
