SBP's foreign reserves witness increase of $150 mn

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday witnessed an upturn in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, with a reported increase of $150 million, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

With the recent increase in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, the SBP disclosed that the country’s reserves exceeded $9.13 billion.

Simultaneously, commercial banks’ reserves also increased by $15.20 billion to settle at $5.49 billion, as confirmed by the SBP.

Meanwhile, the SBP announced a rise of $168 million in the country’s gross reserves, bringing the total reserves to $14.062 billion.

Last month, the week ending April 19 witnessed a downturn in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, with a reported decrease of $9.32 million, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) disclosed that the country’s domestic foreign exchange reserves amounted to $13.28 billion as of April 19.

The State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves experienced a notable decline, diminishing by $7.35 million to reach $7.98 billion.

Simultaneously, commercial banks’ reserves also faced a downturn, decreasing by $1.97 million to settle at $5.29 billion, as confirmed by the State Bank.

Earlier during the week ending on April 12, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose by 14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“During the week, SBP has executed the repayment of US$ 1 billion maturing Pakistan’s International Bond (principal plus interest),” it said in a weekly statement.

However, the country’s total reserves fell by $68 million to $13.374 billion. Similarly, the reserves of commercial banks decreased by $82 million to $5.319 billion.