Forex reserves slip to $19.77bln

KARACHI: The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country declined $249 million during a week, owing to external debt servicing, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country slipped to $19.771 billion by the week ended January 12, 2018 as compared to $20.02 billion during the preceding week.

During the week, the official reserves of the central bank decreased $284 million to $13.699 billion from $13.982 billion.

The State Bank of Pakistan said the foreign exchange reserves were down due to external debt servicing and other official payments. However, net foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks increased to $6.072 billion as against $6.037 billion a week ago.