KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $ 354 million during last week due to external debt servicing.

According to weekly foreign exchange report issued Thursday, the SBP’s reserves decreased to $ 4.244 billion as of March 24, 2023 down from $ 4.6 billion on March 17, 2023. The decline in the SBP’s reserves is because of external debt payment.

However, net foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks rose by $31 million to $ 5.572 billion by the end of last week against $5.541 billion a week earlier.

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $ 9.816 billion as on Mar 24, 2023 compared to $10.139 billion on March 17, 2023, depicting a decline of $323 million in a week.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023