KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) further fell by $179 million due to external debt servicing during the week ended on June 2, announced the central bank.

The SBP reported that its foreign exchange holdings slipped to $3.912 billion after staying above $4bn since March.

The dwindling reserves have not only weakened the local currency but made it difficult for the government to timely meet its external debt-servicing obligations.

The country’s overall reserves dipped to $9.334bn while the commercial banks’ holdings remained unchanged at $5.422bn during the week under review.

Meanwhile, the SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet on Monday to decide the benchmark interest rate for the next two months.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2023