KARACHI:
Foreign exchange reserves dropped to $12.370 billion in the week ending March 22 from $12.436 billion in the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.
Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $7.277 billion from $7.451 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks increased to $5.092 billion from $4.986 billion.
Heavy debt repayments to the IMF have been putting a dent in the central bank’s reserves.
Meanwhile, exports and record remittances have supported Pakistan’s reserves. Remittances from Pakistanis abroad rose 7.47% to $9.23 billion in the first eight months, July to February, of the 2012-13 fiscal year, from $8.59 billion in the same period last year. An amount of $1.028 billion was remitted by overseas Pakistanis in February 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2013.
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