KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves have dropped to $8.24 billion, after recording a decline of $748 million. According to the central bank, the prime reason for the falling foreign reserves is the repayments of external debts.
Currently, all banks excluding SBP hold $5,972 million in form of net reserves. At the moment, Pakistan has a foreign currency of $14,210 million. To stabilise the situation, Pakistan had to ask for a $2.3 billion loan from China.
The Chinese consortium of banks has today signed the RMB 15 billion (~$2.3 billion) loan facility agreement after it was signed by the Pakistani side yesterday. Inflow is expected within a couple of days. We thank the Chinese government for facilitating this transaction.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 22, 2022
The International Monetary Fund has also agreed to release the $1 billion tranche. Finance Ministry said that the staff-level agreement would be finalised in a few days. The news of cash inflow had a positive effect on local currency. During the early trade, the US dollar stood at Rs207.70 in the interbank market.