SBP reserves fall $266m to $10.1b

Drop comes due to external debt repayment of $301 million

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased 2.57% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On June 5, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $10,095.8 million, down $266 million compared with $10,362.1 million in the previous week.

According to the central bank, the decrease was attributed to the government’s external debt repayments of $301 million.

Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $16,705.3 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,609.5 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (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.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2020.

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