Foreign reserves fell by $224 million to $13.275 billion in the week that ended on March 29, the central bank said on Friday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $11.100 billion from $11.356 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $2.175 billion from $2.143 billion.
Foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $16.486 billion on October 31. 2007 but then plummeted, mainly because of outflows from the stock market after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency on November 3.
The emergency was lifted on December 15, but foreign investors remained cautious after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27. However, after a relatively smooth election last month, foreign exchange inflows rose in the week that ended on March 8.