Foreign exchange reserves eased to $17.01 billion in the week ended on May 7, from $17.11 billion the previous week, a central bank official said on Thursday.
Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $13.59 billion from $13.7 billion a week ago, while those held by commercial banks rose marginally to $3.42 billion from $3.41 billion, said SBP’s spokesman Syed Wasimuddin. The fall was because of scheduled repayments, he said.
Forex reserves have grown steadily thanks to higher export proceeds as well as record inflow of remittances, hitting an all-time high of $17.95 billion during the week that ended on March 26. Reserves have since eased slightly on debt repayments.
Remittances from overseas Pakistanis increased by 23.81 per cent to over $9 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2010-11. Foreign exchange reserves were boosted in January by more than $633 million released by the US for military and logistical support in the campaign against terrorism.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2011.
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