KARACHI – The country’s foreign exchange reserves slid down by 1.7 percent or $319 million to $17.637 billion after hitting a historic high a week earlier, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data indicated.
On the week that ended on March 26, the central bank had declared that the country’s foreign exchange reserves had amassed to a record $17.956 billion owing primarily to a healthy inflow of the greenback on account of exports and worker remittances.
However, during the current week, according to data released by the SBP on Thursday, a decline of 1.7 percent was witnessed in the country’s total liquid foreign reserves, which dipped to $17.637 billion during the week ending on April 2.
The week under review saw an across-the-board decline in the country’s dollar reserves with both the central and commercial banks reporting to hold the greenback lesser than last week. The State Bank said its dollar holdings shrank by $280 million or 1.9 percent to $14.261 billion against $14.541 billion it possessed the previous week.
Similarly, according to SBP figures, the foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks remained lower and stood at $3.376 billion, registering a dip of $38 million against when compared with last week’s over $3.414 billion. The State Bank spokesman usually attributes such ‘slight’ decreases in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves to routine repayments of the debts and cash withdrawal by the account holders of the commercial banks.
During the ongoing financial year (FY2011) dollar inflows to the country remained by and large on the higher side. The economic observers as well as the central bank believe that the present upward trend was mainly backed by higher inflows of the greenback under the heads of worker remittances and the cost-pushed exports. Pakistan’s economic managers expect that the country’s exports and remittances receipts would cross the historic 11 and 22 billion dollars limit during FY11 ending on June 30.
