Foreign exchange: SBP reserves go down by $463mn in a week

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell 2.86% during a week ending on January 28, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

Sharing a break-up of the foreign reserves position, the central bank said that foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $15,727.6 million, down $463mn compared with $16,190.1 million on January 21.

According to the central bank, the decrease came due to external debt and other payments.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $22,084.5 million.

Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,356.9 million, the SBP said.

On Wednesday, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved $1billion loan for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

This was confirmed by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin in a post shared on his official Twitter handle.

A session of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board for the 6th review of Pakistan’s economy was held in Washington.