Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.397 billion

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increase to $17.397 billion

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased by $1.924 billion to $17.397 billion by week ended March 29, 2019 as against $15.473 billion a week ago, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

The reserves held by State Bank increased by $1.931 billion to $10.492 billion by week ended under review as compared with $8.561 billion by week ended March 22, 2019.

The SBP said that during the week ending March 29, 2019, the central bank received inflow of RMB 15 billion equivalent to US$2.2 billion as proceeds of the loan obtained by the government of Pakistan from China. After taking into account outflows relating to external debt and other official payments, SBP reserves increased by US$1,931 million during the week.

The reserves held by commercial banks, however, declined by $9 million to $6.904 billion from previous week’s level of $6.913 billion.