The liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $127 million on a weekly basis according to data issued by the central bank on Thursday.
On January 12, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8.027 billion, down $127 million compared to $8.155 billion on January 5. The central bank attributed the decline in reserves to debt repayments.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.145 billion, down $112 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.118 billion, registering an increase of $16 million during the week.
It is pertinent to mention here that SBP received the second tranche of $705.6 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) during the week. This disbursement will be reflected in the central bank reserves for the week ending on January 19.