Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $127 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $8.03 billion as of January 12, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.15 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.12 billion.

The SBP attributed the decline in the reserves to debt repayments.

“During the week ended on 12-Jan-2024, SBP’s reserves decreased by US$ 127 million to US$ 8,027.4 million due to debt repayments,” it said.

Last week, Pakistan’s central bank reserves had decreased by $66 million.

In a major development, Pakistan received a tranche of $705.6 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said a SBP statement on Wednesday.

“The SBP has received SDR 528 million (equivalent to $705.6 million) in value 16th January 2024 from IMF following successful completion of the first review by the Executive Board of IMF under Stand By Arrangement (SBA),” the central bank said in a post on X.

The disbursement will reflect in the SBP reserves for the week ending on January 19.