Foreign exchange: SBP reserves rise 0.45%, but stay below $15b

Earlier, the reserves had dropped for the past five consecutive weeks

KARACHI: After a continuous decline for the past five weeks, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose 0.45% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.

On August 18, the foreign currency reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $14,375.1 million, up $64.6 million or 0.45%, compared to $14,310.5 million in the previous week, according to the central bank.

No reason was cited for the increase.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $20,046.3 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,671.2 million.



More than a month ago, foreign currency reserves increased due to official inflows including $622 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and $106 million from the World Bank.

Earlier, the SBP received $350 million under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) and made payments of $62 million for external debt servicing.

In January, the SBP made a $500-million loan repayment to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China.