Foreign exchange: SBP’s reserves rise 4.2%  

SBP made payments of $239 million on account of external debt servicing

SBP made payments of $239 million on account of external debt servicing. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI:
Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 4.18% on a weekly basis on September 23, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.

SBP’s liquid foreign exchange reserves increased $738 million to $18,395 million compared to $17,657 million in the previous week. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $23,418 million while net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,022.9 million.

The increase in reserves is mainly attributed to the inflow of $700 million from China Development Bank.


In the previous week, the SBP made payments of $239 million on account of external debt servicing. Two and three weeks before, the SBP made similar payments of $296 million and $60 million respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2016.