Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are on the downside this week, with the total reserves decreasing by 0.93% when compared with last week’s numbers.
The data released on Thursday revealed that on May 5th, foreign exchange reserves fell by 0.93% or $149.1 million to $15,912.5 million from $16,061.6 million in the previous week.
Total liquid foreign reserves, on the other hand, were recorded at $20,790.5 million for all banks including SBP. Liquid foreign reserves held by banks other than SBP stood at $4,878 million.
The reason cited for this decrease in reserves is external debt servicing.
Last month the State Bank received $317 million as multilateral cash flows. It paid $118 million for external debt servicing and other official payments. Back in January, SBP made a loan repayment of $500 million to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in China.
Sustainable Economy?
SBP claimed that Pakistan is going to achieve record breaking GDP in fiscal year 2016-2017. Anything above 5% would mean the highest growth rate in the last 9 years. However, Pakistan recorded 4.7% GDP increase last year, falling short of the stated target.
Read More: Pakistan to Achieve Record Breaking GDP in 2016-17: State Bank
The bank also declared that the national economy is sustainable and it will likely meet its target of 5.7% GDP growth rate, set by the government for FY 2016-2017.
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Assholes report $20bn to anyone who asks. Even international media are fooled. Money held by commercial banks does not count towards a country’s forex reserves. Those are private funds!
Taking loans and pouring that all on non revenue generating projects like Metros wouldn’t and hasn’t taken economy anywhere.