Foreign exchange reserves continue to decline in Pakistan

• Central bank says decrease comes due to external debt payments.
• Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,893 million.
• Reserves are expected to improve as Pakistan reaches staff-level agreement with IMF.

KARACHI: The country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued to decline on a weekly basis.

On July 7, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $9,717.5 million, down $99 million compared with $9,816.3 on June 30, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed.

According to the central bank, the decrease came due to external debt and other payments.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,610.5 million.

Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,893 million.

However, with Pakistan reaching a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foreign exchange reserves are expected to improve after the receipt of $1.17 billion from the global lender.