KARACHI, Dec 21: State Bank’s foreign exchange reserves improved by $73 million to $8.587 billion during the week ended December 14, 2012, the central bank announced on Thursday.

However, the country’s overall reserves fell by $166 million to $13.208 billion during the same period. The forex holding of scheduled banks witnessed a net fall of $239 million during the week. Currency watchers believe that the banks’ reserves fell due to rising payments for oil imports.