SBP Reserves Fall by $237 Million in Just One Week

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $237 million on a weekly basis according to data issued by the central bank on Thursday. On December 1, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7.020 billion, down $237 million compared to $7.257 billion on November 24. In a short statement, the central bank said that the decline 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 $12.107 billion, down $286 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.087 billion, registering a decrease of $49 million during the week. It is pertinent to mention here that earlier in the week the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board revealed its calendar outlining meetings until December 14, however, Pakistan’s case was absent from the agenda. The government was hoping that the meeting of the IMF’s Executive Board would be held early in December to ratify the staff-level agreement (SLA), helping the country unlock a tranche of $700 million.