Central bank: Reserves increase to $8.65b

ISLAMABAD: Total foreign reserves held by the country stood at $8.56 billion for the week ended February 21, according to figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) yesterday. Out of the total, reserves held by the SBP stood at $3.87 billion, while those held by commercial banks stood at $4.78 billion. During the week ending Feb 21, 2014, SBP’s liquid foreign reserves increased by $674 million to $3,871 million compared to $3,197 million in the previous week, said the central bank statement. The SBP attributed the increase in its reserves to official inflows during the week; which include $353 million received under the Coalition Support Fund, $53 million from multilateral and bilateral sources. On account of external debt servicing and other official payments, the SBP has made payments of $172 million; which include $149 million paid to the IMF under stand-by arrangement (SBA).

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2014.

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