SBP reserves fall to almost 5-year low

KARACHI: Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dropped by $148 million during the week ended on Jan 11 on account of debt servicing and other official payments.

The SBP reserves fell to $6.9 billion — their lowest level since April 11, 2014 when they hit a trough of $4.984bn. The dollar stocks of central bank have breached the $7bn-mark for the first time in almost five years.

On the other hand, holdings of the commercial banks edged up to $6.588bn, from $6.548bn stood while total liquid reserves of the country stood at $13.489bn during the period under review.