The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 2.2 per cent on a weekly basis, data released by the central bank has revealed.

According to The Express Tribune, the reserves had earlier spiralled downwards, falling below the $7 billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.

On September 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,462.3 million, up by $181.8 million compared with $8,280.5 million in the previous week. The central bank cited official inflows as the reason for the increase in reserves.

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Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves, held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,751.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,289.4 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.