Pakistan's forex reserves flat at $17.03 bln

KARACHI: Pakistan's foreignexchange reserves were flat at $17.03 billion for the weekending Nov. 11, unchanged from the previous week, the centralbank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fellmarginally, to $13.27 billion, compared with $13.28 billion theprevious week. Reserves held by commercial banks rosemarginally, to $3.76 billion, from $3.75 billion the previousweek.

Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in theweek ending July 30, but have since eased due to debtrepayments.

The reserves were boosted in June by inflows of $411million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank,and a loan of $196.8 million from the Asian Development Bank.

Higher export proceeds, and a record inflow of remittances,have also helped support Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves.

According to official data, remittances rose 23.24 percentto $4.3 billion in the first four months of the 2010/11 fiscalyear (July-June), compared with $3.50 billion in the same periodlast year.

Remittances rose to $1.02 billion in October, compared with$855.11 million received in October last year.