KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were up by $18.5 million to hit $8.04 billion during the week ended on March 29.
The central bank’s foreign exchange reserves were recorded at $8.22 billion on March 22.
The SBP did not specify a reason for the increase in the reserves.
Meanwhile, the forex reserves of the commercial banks reached $5.3 billion, from the earlier figure of $5.4 billion after dropping by $67.2 million during the week ended on March 29.
Overall, the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan declined by $48.7 million to $13.38 billion, as compared with $13.42 billion the previous week.
Pakistan’s exports increased by 8.93% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (2023–24) as compared to the same period in the previous year, according to data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The country’s exports witnessed an increase of 8.93% to $22.91 billion in July-March (2023–24) compared to $21.03 billion in the same period in 2022–2023.
As compared to $43.72 billion, Pakistan’s imports have decreased by 8.65% to $39.94 billion this year.
According to the data, the trade deficit for the first nine months of the current fiscal year was $17.03 billion, compared to $22.68 billion for the same period last year, indicating a significant drop of 24.94%.
