Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $54 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $8.22 billion as of January 26, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.26 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.04 billion.

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

“During the week ended on 26-Jan-2024, SBP’s reserves decreased by US$ 54 million to US$ 8,216.5 million due to debt repayments,” it said.

Last week, Pakistan’s central bank reserves had increased by $243 million to hit an over 6-month high of $8.27 billion. The rise was on the back of an inflow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

SBP says Pakistan has received $705.6mn from IMF

“During the week ended on 19-Jan-2024, SBP received IMF tranche under SBA and executed government’s external debt repayments. After accounting for all flows, SBP’s reserves recorded a net increase of US$ 243 million to reach US$ 8,270.5 million,” the central bank said the previous week.