SBP's foreign exchange reserves continue to drop, stand at $13.8b

Decrease attributed to payments on account of external debt servicing

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued to remain on the path of downward spiral for the fourth consecutive week.

The SBP reserves decreased 0.50% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.

On October 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $13,787.9 million, down $69.1 million or 0.50% compared to $13,857 million in the previous week, said the central bank.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $19,672 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,884.1 million.



The decrease in reserves was attributed to payments on account of external debt servicing.

Almost four months ago, the foreign currency reserves rose in the wake of 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.