Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $53 million on a weekly basis to $17.2 billion on October 29.

The data, released by the SBP Thursday evening, stated overall reserves held by Pakistan amounted to $23.93 billion.

Reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $6.73 billion.

SBP's foreign exchange reserves decline $346 million, now stand at $17.146 billion

Last week, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP declined by $346 million on a weekly basis to $17.146 billion on October 22.

However, Pakistan's reserves are set for another boost after the announcement of Saudi Arabia's $4.2-billion support package in financial assistance.

Last month, the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) announced the issuance of the Royal Directive to deposit an amount worth of $3 billion into the central bank of Pakistan, “to help the Pakistani government support its foreign currency reserves and support it in facing the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” read a statement by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Additionally, the SFD said that the royal directive was also issued to finance the oil derivatives trade with a total amount of $1.2 billion throughout the year.

Earlier, Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves got a boost when, during the week ended August 27, SBP received proceeds of IMF SDR allocation amounting to $2.75 billion.