Forex: Reserves drop to $14.9b from $15.2b

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves dropped by $328 million to $14.909 billion in the week ending July 12 from $15.236 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $10.496 billion from $10.802 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks dropped to $4.413 billion from $4.434 billion. Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in July 2011, boosted by a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. Record remittances have also supported Pakistan’s reserves. Remittances from Pakistanis abroad rose 19.5% to $12.07 billion in the first 11 months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared to $10.1 billion in the same period last year. Pakistan’s reserves have been reduced by debt repayments of $2.53 billion in the recently concluded fiscal year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2012.