SBP Reserves Fall Below $8 Billion Mark

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $63 million on a weekly basis according to data issued by the central bank on Thursday. On February 23, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7.95 billion, down $63 million compared to $8.013 billion on February 16. In a short statement, the central bank said the decrease in reserves was due to debt repayments. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.039 billion, down $59 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.089 billion, registering an increase of $4 million during the week.