The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by 1.3 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On September 30, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7.899 billion, down $106 million compared to $8.005 billion on September 23 due to external debt repayment which includes interest payments on Eurobonds.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.59 billion. Net reserves held by banks stood at $5.689 billion, registering a decrease of $67 million.
Reserves held by the central bank had touched $8.8 billion on September 2, following the receipt of a $1.1 billion loan tranche from the IMF. However, since September 2 the central bank’s reserves have gone down by $0.9 billion.
On Thursday, the Pakistan rupee appreciated against the US dollar for the tenth consecutive day after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s claim that the dollar will fall below Rs. 200 by end-October.
The finance minister, while speaking to a private television channel on Wednesday, had said that the real value of the dollar is below Rs. 200 and the dollar only appreciated against the rupee due to speculation and manipulation.
