The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose 0.25% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On January 29, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $13,031.2 million, up $33 million compared with $12,998.4 million in the previous week. The central bank gave no reason for the increase in reserves.

Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $20,163.1 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,131.9 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, 2019, which helped bolster the reserves. In late December 2019, the IMF released the second loan tranche of around $454 million.

