Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have slipped to the alarming level of less than $3 billion for the first time in nine years, which curtailed the country’s import cover to slightly over two weeks ahead of likely revival of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $7 billion loan programme
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its weekly update, said that foreign exchange reserves decreased by $170 million to $2,916
7 million due to external debt repayments in the week ended February 3, 2023
The low reserves have raised the risk of default on repayment of foreign debt
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, however, appeared confident about the early revival of IMF programme as 10-day talks were scheduled to conclude on Thursday
The resumption of the programme will pave the way for release of next tranche of $1
1 billion in a few weeks or about a month and unlock another couple of billions of dollars from other multilateral and bilateral creditors including friendly countries
It will provide much-needed support for stabilising the foreign exchange reserves
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2023
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Date: | 11-Feb-2023 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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