SBP Reserves Fall by $54 Million to $8.21 Billion

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $54 million on a weekly basis according to data issued by the central bank on Thursday. On January 26, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8.216 billion, down $54 million compared to $8.270 billion on January 19. In a short statement, the central bank said the decrease in reserves was due to external debt repayments. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.262 billion, down $79 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.046 billion, registering a decrease of $25 million during the week. Pakistan recently requested China to roll over a debt of $2 billion for a year. The deposit time for the $2 billion loan from China is set to complete on March 23, 2024.