Forex reserves rise to $18.790bln

KARACHI: Total foreign exchange reserves held by the country increased $819 million, or 4.55 percent, to $18.790 billion during the week ended July 3 from $17.971 billion a week ago, the central bank reported on Thursday.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose $811 million, or 7.21 percent, during the period under review, it added.

The forex reserves held by the SBP stood at $12.041 billion, compared with $11.231 billion in the previous week.

“This increase in reserves is primarily attributed to proceeds of $1,000 million as GoP [Government of Pakistan] loan disbursement from China,” the SBP said.

“During the week, the SBP also made government external debt payments of $ 231.2 million.”

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves of commercial banks slightly rose to $6.748 billion from $6.740 billion.