Forex reserves rise to $15.20b

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistans foreign exchange reserves rose to $15.20 billion in the week ending on Jan. 9 from $15.03 billion the previous week, boosted by inflows from development banks, an SBP official said on Thursday.
Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan rose to $11.47 billion from $11.27 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks fell to $3.73 billion from $3.76 billion the previous week, the SBP spokesman said.
There were some inflows from multilateral development banks, said Syed Wasimuddin, chief spokesman at State Bank of Pakistan. An International Monetary Fund emergency loan package of $7.6 billion agreed in November 2008 helped avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves.
The IMF increased the loan to $11.3 billion in July and the central bank received a fourth tranche of $1.2 billion on Dec. 28. Foreign reserves hit a record high of $16.5 billion in October 2007 but fell steadily to $6.6 billion by November 2008, largely because of a soaring import bill.