Islamabad

The State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) foreign currency reserves fell to their lowest level in almost three years at $7.83 billion as of August 5 from $8.385 billion a week earlier on debt payments, data from the central bank showed.

The foreign reserves held by the SBP dropped by $555 million or 6.6 per cent on a weekly basis due to increased debt payments and a lack of external financing.

The central bank's data showed reserves plunged to their lowest level since October 2019.

Pakistan's total liquid foreign reserves fell by $648 million or 4.6 per cent to $13.561 billion and those of commercial banks dropped 1.6 per cent to $5.730 billion.

The reserves available with the SBP are enough to cover little over a month's imports.

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The latest forex reserves numbers came as the country is facing dried external funding with the reserves depleting fast amid a stalled $6 billion International Monetary Fund programme.