Forex: Currency reserves fall to $12.6 billion

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves dropped to $12.565 billion in the week ending March 8 from $12.804 billion in the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $7.655 billion from $7.861 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks decreased to $4.910 billion from $4.943 billion. Exports and record remittances have supported Pakistan’s reserves.

Remittances from Pakistanis abroad rose 7.47% to $9.23 billion in the first eight months, July to February, of the 2012-13 fiscal year, from $8.59 billion in the same period last year.

An amount of $1.028 billion was remitted by overseas Pakistanis in February 2013 as against $1.157 billion in the same month of the last fiscal year (February 2012).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2013.

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