SBP reserves fall $55m to $12.07b

Drop comes on account of external debt repayments

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased 0.46% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the SBP on Thursday.

On May 21, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $12,073.9 million, down $55 million compared with $12,129.3 million in the previous week.

According to the central bank, the decrease came on account of external debt repayments. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $18,597.9 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,524 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the IMF on July 9 last year, which helped bolster the reserves. In late December, the IMF released the second loan tranche of around $454 million. Previously, the reserves jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

A few months ago, the SBP successfully made foreign debt repayment of over $1 billion on the maturity of Sukuk. In December 2019, the foreign exchange reserves surpassed the $10-billion mark owing to inflows from multilateral lenders.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2020.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.