Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $63 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $9.09 billion as of May 24, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $14.31 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.22 billion.

The central bank cited external debt repayments as the reason for the decrease in the foreign currency reserves.

“During the week ended on 24-May-2024, SBP reserves decreased by US$ 63 million to US$ 9,093.7 million due to external debt repayments,” it said.

Last week, Pakistan’s central bank reserves increased by $22 million.

Earlier this month, SBP reserves jumped $1.114 billion to reach above $9 billion after nearly two years.

The increase in the dollar stockpile had come in line with reflection of the last tranche of $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement.