Islamabad: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at nearly $6 billion along with the reserves held by the State Bank $4.5 billion after paying debt of 1.2 billion dollar.
Talking to journalists in Islamabad, Finance Minister said that the government was repaying the country’s due debt on time, regretting that the country’s foreign exchange reserves were plunging due to external debt payment.
“Pakistan’s forex reserves will get better soon”, Ishaq Dar said.
He added that the country would soon get from friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia as foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged to historic low.
In response to a question, the finance minister said that a delegation from International Monetary Fund (IMF) would reach Pakistan in a few days. He said, “We will also meet the IMF delegation in Geneva”, where the ‘Climate Resilient Pakistan’ moot is taking place.
Ishaq Dar announced that he would also undertake a three-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the ‘Climate Resilient Pakistan’ moot.
It is pertinent to mention here that the foreign exchange reserves held by central bank plunged by $1.2bn to reach $4.5 billion. Pakistan paid back $600mn to the Emirates NBD Bank and $415mn to the DIB on Friday, they say.
After the fresh debt repayments, the forex reserves have dropped to $4.5bn, sufficient for only 25 days of import cover, they say.
