Country’s forex reserves ease to $17.97bn

KARACHI: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves eased to $17.97 billion in the week ending August 6, from a record $18.31 billion the previous week, a senior central bank official said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $14.46 billion from $14.78 billion a week ago, while those held by commercial banks also fell to $3.51 billion from $3.53 billion, said SBP chief spokesman Syed Wasimuddin.

"The decline in reserves during the week is due to scheduled debt repayments," said Wasimuddin.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves were boosted in June by inflows of $411 million, including a loan of $191.9 million from the World Bank, and another loan of $196.8 million from the Asian Development Bank.

Higher export proceeds and a record inflow of remittances have helped Pakistan's forex reserves grow steadily.

According to the official data, remittances rose 38.57 percent to $1.1 billion in the first month of 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year.

In May 2010, Pakistan received $1.13 billion in the fifth tranche of an $11 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

IMF and Pakistan officials were due to meet in July to discuss the possible release of the sixth tranche but has been delayed and no new date has yet been announced.

Copyright Reuters, 2011