Forex: Currency reserves rise to $11.863b

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves rose to $11.863 billion in the week ending May 03 from $11.764 billion in the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $ 6.772 billion from $6.676 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks increased to $ 5.090 billion from $5.087 billion. Pakistan, on March 28, successfully paid its 11th installment worth $143.75million of Stand-By-Arrangement (SBA) to the IMF. The next IMF repayment of $391 million is due at the end of May. Heavy debt repayments to the IMF have been putting a dent in the central bank’s reserves, which have declined by nearly 20% in the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, 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). PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2013.

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