Sigh of relief: Foreign exchange reserves rise by $67m

• SBP’s reserves rise by $67m to $7.89b, SBP reports.
• Overall liquid foreign currency reserves stand at $13,613.3m.
• After an increase, country has an import cover of 1.13 months.

KARACHI: The country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reversed the downtrend after it rose by 0.85%.

On August 12, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7,897.3 million, up $67 million compared with $7,830.3 on August 5, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13,613.3 million.

Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,716 million.

Last week, the central bank had predicted the reserves to rise as it said that debt repayments were expected to moderate during the next three weeks of this month.

It should be noted that with the current foreign exchange reserves position, Pakistan has an import cover of fewer than 1.13 months.