Pakistan's forex reserves fall to $16.34bn

KARACHI: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves fell to $16.34 billion in the week ended March 2, compared with $16.42 billion in the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the SBP fell to$11.90 billion from $12.06 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $4.44 billion, compared with$4.36 billion the previous week.

"The decrease in SBP's forex reserves are due to scheduled debt repayments," said Syed Wasimuddin, chief spokesman of SBP.

The central bank paid $399 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the week ending Feb. 24, part of an $8billion IMF loan that Islamabad is repaying.

Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in July last year, but have since fallen due to debt repayments. (Reuters)