Pakistan forex reserves fall to $8.090 billion

KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to $8.090 billion in the week ending December 20, 2013 compared to $8.526 billion in the previous week, the central bank said. According to a statement issued by State Bank of Pakistan (SPB), the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $8,090.2 million on 20 December 2013. The break-up of the foreign reserves position is as foreign reserves held by SBP are $3,192.9 million; net foreign reserves held by banks (other than SBP) is $4,897.3 million and total liquid foreign reserves are $8,090.2 million. During the week ending 20 Dec 2013, SBP’s liquid Forex reserves decreased by $275 million to $3,193 million compared to $3,468 million in the previous week. The decrease in the SBP reserves is mainly due to payments of $185 million, of which external debt servicing was $162 million inclusive of $58 million repayment to IMF and other official payments equal to $23 million. During the week, there was no major inflow from multilateral and bilateral sources. On the successful completion of first review, disbursement of the second tranche of Extended Fund Facility (EEF) worth $554 million has been received on December 232013 and will be reported in the next week reserve position. (PPI)