Imrpoving: Foreign currency reserves rise $164m

KARACHI:

Foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased $164.2 million in the week ended August 29, standing at $8.719 billion, according to figures released by the central bank on Thursday.

The week-on-week rise in reserves came following release of $371.4 million by the US under the Coalition Support Fund. The central bank also made payments of $54 million on account of external debt and other official commitments during the week.

However, total foreign currency reserves of the country, including foreign exchange held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.578 billion, a slight fall of $3.9 million from the reserves held in the week ended on August 22.

The foreign reserves with banks other than the central bank dropped $168.1 million at $4.859 billion in the week under review.

In the previous fiscal year 2013-14, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had surged more than 50%, which earned the SBP accolades from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.

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