Forex: Reserves flat at $17.5b

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves of the country were flat at $17.52 billion in the week ended June 18, unchanged from the previous week, a central bank official said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $14.11 billion from $14.09 billion a week ago, while those held by commercial banks eased to $3.41 billion from $3.43 billion, said SBP’s chief spokesman Syed Wasimuddin. 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 sent by overseas Pakistanis crossed $10 billion for the first time, hitting $10.1 billion in the first 11 months of the 2010-11 fiscal year, an increase of 25 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to SBP data.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2011.