Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $3.91 billion due to external debt payments amid government efforts to revive stalled International Monetary Fund (MF) programme expiring this month.

The SBP said in a statement Thursday that its reserves decreased by $179 million to $3.91 billion during the week ended on June 2, barely enough to provide controlled imports cover for one month.

The net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stand at $5.42 billion, $1.51 billion more than the reserves held by the central bank while the total foreign reserves held by the country stood at $9.3 billion as of Jun 2.

This is the sixth weekly drop in the foreign exchange reserves, with Pakistan seeing no signs of securing external financing any time soon amid political instability — which has had a huge impact on the deteriorating economy.