Pakistan: State Bank's reserves fall USD 123 million to USD 20 billion

Foreign exchange reserves held by Pakistan's Central Bank fell 0.61 per cent on a weekly basis, according to State Bank of Pakistan's data on Thursday.

Foreign exchange reserves held by Pakistan's Central Bank fell 0.61 per cent on a weekly basis, according to State Bank of Pakistan's data on Thursday. On September 3, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at USD 20,022.6 million, down USD 123 million compared with USD 20,145.6 million recorded on August 27, reported The Express Tribune.

The decrease came due to the external debt repayments, the central bank stated. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at USD 27,102.6 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to USD 7,080 million, reported The Tribune Express.

Previously on August 27, the foreign exchange reserves which were held by Pakistan's central bank increased to USD 20.15 billion, after the country received an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth USD 2,751.8 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on August 24. Pakistan had borrowed USD 2.5 billion through Eurobonds, by offering profitable interest rates to the lender.

It received the first loan tranche of USD 991.4 million from the IMF on July 9, 2019, which helped bolster the reserves. In late December 2019, the IMF released the second loan tranche of around USD 454 million, reported The Tribune Express. The reserves also jumped on account of USD 2.5 billion in inflows from China.

In 2020, the SBP successfully made foreign debt repayment of over USD 1 billion on the maturity of Sukuk. (ANI)

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