KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dipped $66 million during the week ended on Jan 5, 2024.

The central bank on Thursday announced that its foreign exchange holdings fell to $8.154bn due to debt repayments during the week.

Pakistan is bound to arrange $24bn to meet external obligations during the current fiscal year. This outflow has kept the exchange rate under stress.

However, the local currency continued its winning streak for the seventh consecutive session against the US dollar in the interbank market. The greenback lost two paise to close at Rs281.11 on Thursday.

The country’s total reserves increased to $13.256bn, which included $5.101bn held by the commercial banks.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2024