KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves dropped by $470 million to $15.536 billion in the week ending June 1 from $16.006 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $11.244 billion from $11.698 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks dropped to $4.293 billion from $4.307 billion. Pakistan’s reserves have been drained by debt repayments, including $399 million in the week ending February 24 on an $8 billion International Monetary Fund loan. The next repayment is due by the end of the 2011/12 fiscal year. Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in July last year, boosted by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. Higher exports and record remittances have also supported Pakistan’s reserves.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ