Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves drop to $12.65bn

Karachi: The total liquid foreign reserves of Pakistan reached US$ 12.6560 billion on Thursday while reserves held by the central bank stood at $7.49 billion.

In a statement released here, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that its reserves had dropped by $220 million to $7.49 billion.

Pakistan's total liquid foreign reserves decreased by $257 million to $12,6560. Conversely, commercial banks' net foreign reserves dropped by $37 million to $5.16 billion.

Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Pakistan to ‘immediately raise’ gas tariffs.

Moreover, to reduce losses and circular debt in Pakistan's gas sector, the IMF is requesting a 100% "rise" in the gas tariff.

According to the source, during a virtual conference with representatives of Pakistan's finance ministry, a foreign lender expressed worries over not raising the gas rate effective July 1 and requested that the caretaker government of Pakistan authorize the increase in gas tariff right now.

They added that in order to avoid committing a "violation" of the Standby Agreement, the IMF had questioned the Pakistani Finance Ministry about the rise in gas pricing.