SBP’s foreign reserves witness downturn, stand at $13.28 bln

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KARACHI: The week ending April 19 witnessed a downturn in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, with a reported decrease of $9.32 million, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) disclosed that the country’s domestic foreign exchange reserves amounted to $13.28 billion as of April 19.

The State Bank’s own foreign exchange reserves experienced a notable decline, diminishing by $7.35 million to reach $7.98 billion.

Simultaneously, commercial banks’ reserves also faced a downturn, decreasing by $1.97 million to settle at $5.29 billion, as confirmed by the State Bank.

Earlier during the week ended on April 12, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose by 14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“During the week, SBP has executed the repayment of US$ 1 billion maturing Pakistan’s International Bond (principal plus interest),” it said in a weekly statement.

However, the country’s total reserves fell by $68 million to $13.374 billion. Similarly, the reserves of commercial banks decreased by $82 million to $5.319 billion.