KARACHI, Sept 18: Pakistan’s foreign reserves fell $190 million to $8.91 billion in the week that ended on Sept 13, from $9.10 billion in the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday.

The central bank said its own reserves fell to $5.52 billion from $5.72 billion previously, while those held by commercial banks rose marginally to $3.39 billion from $3.38 billion.

Foreign reserves hit a record high of $16.5 billion in October last year but have dwindled due to a soaring import bill, and foreign investors’ withdrawal due to political uncertainty gripping the country.

Some inflows are expected in coming weeks, including $1 billion from the World Bank, $500 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

An expected Saudi oil facility would also help Pakistan save foreign exchange. But all of these have still to materialise.

The rupee hit a record low of 77.77 rupees to the dollar in early trade on Thursday and dealers said they expect pressure to remain.

The current account deficit widened sharply to $2.572 billion in July and August, the first two months of the 2008-09 fiscal year, which is equivalent to about 1.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with a full-year target of 6.0 per cent of the GDP.

The consumer price index in August rose 25.33 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a full-year target of 12 per cent for this fiscal year.—Reuters