KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by $366 million to $9.723 billion during the week ended on May 27, ARY News reported.
According to the central bank’s weekly report, the SBP reserves were recorded at $9,722.9 million, down $366 million compared with $10,088.6 million on May 20.
The country’s total reserves declined to $15.771bn while the holdings of commercial banks were $6.048bn.
The central bank added that the decrease occurred due to “external debt repayment”.
Meanwhile, the local currency further gained 28 paise against the US dollar in the interbank market on Thursday. The dollar closed at the price of Rs197.59.
The federal government Thursday increased the prices of petroleum products by Rs30 per litre. The development was announced by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
After the hike, the price of petrol is set at Rs209.86, diesel at Rs204.15, and kerosene oil at Rs181.56.
It is pertinent to note here that this is the second such increase within a span of two weeks as the coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) raised the price of petrol by Rs30 per litre on May 26, the biggest increase in fuel price in the country’s history.
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