Forex reserves rise to $17.712 billion

KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $17.712 billion as of April 27, up 3.39 percent from a week ago, the central bank data showed on Thursday.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose $593 million to $11.510 billion.

“The increase in the SBP’s reserves is due to official inflows,” the central bank said in a weekly statement.

However, sources said Chinese inflows received last week helped the government increase foreign exchange reserves.

The finance minister had already said that the country on Saturday secured financing of $1 billion from China.

The foreign exchange reserves of commercial banks went slightly down to $6.202 billion from $6.213 billion in the previous week. The country’s forex reserves continued to erode due to deteriorating balance of payments.

Moreover, the reserves remained under pressure because of growing external payment pressure.

The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $11.602 billion in March from $12.227 billion in February.