Pakistan's central bank on Monday said it withdrew the requirement of obtaining approval before importing essential goods that was imposed last year as the country struggled with sliding foreign exchange reserves.

Last year's severe floods, that submerged large swathes of the country and killed at least 1,700 people, battered the South Asian nation's already strained economy.

The floods also put a burden on the largely import-reliant economy and drained its foreign exchange reserves, which currently stand at $4.6 billion, not enough to cover a month's imports.

"State Bank of Pakistan withdrew the requirement of prior approval of imports and instead gave a general guidance to the banks to prioritise import of certain essential items like food, pharmaceutical, energy, etc," the central bank said in a statement.

A large number of shipping containers containing essential goods were stuck at ports due to delays in releasing shipping documents by banks, the central bank statement said, as fears of fuel shortages grow in Pakistan.

Pakistan estimates that rebuilding efforts after the floods would amount to $16.3 billion and international donors, earlier this month, pledged to finance more than of that. (Reporting by Gibran Peshimam and Shivam Patel; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)