Forex: Reserves decline to $17.79b

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves declined to $17.79 billion in the week ending on September 10, as compared to $18.06 billion on September 3, the weekly statement of the central bank stated on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined to $14.34 billion against $14.60 billion in the previous week and that with the commercial banks were at $3.45billion from $3.46 billion a week earlier.

“Routine debt servicing is the main cause of the drop in reserves,” a banking expert dealing with the central bank told APP.

Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in the week ending July 30 but have eased due to scheduled debt repayments.

The reserves were boosted in June by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank and another loan of $196.8 million from the Asian Development Bank.

Higher export proceeds and a record inflow of remittances have helped Pakistan’s forex reserves grow steadily. According to official data, remittances rose 38.57 per cent to $1.1 billion in the first month of the 2011/12 fiscal year (July-June), compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year. With additional input from APP and Reuters



Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2011.