KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) continued to decline for the third consecutive week, falling by $72 million during the week ended Aug 1.

This brings the SBP`s total reserves down to $14.232 billion.

Since July 11, the central bank has lost a cumulative $294m inreserves, reversing part of the gains made by the end of the last fiscal year. The SBP had closed FY25 with $14.5bn in reserves surpassing the target set under the IMF programme, a milestone that was widely seen as a policy success.

However, maintaining this level has proven challenging amid ongoing external debt servicing pressures. The SBP attributed the recent decline to scheduled external debt repayments.Pakistan`s external debt servicing remains a major strain on the economy, with around $26bn paid in FY25 and a similar amount projected for FY26. These payments continue to exert downward pressure on the country`s foreign currency buffers.

According to SBP data, the country`s total liquid foreign reserves stood at $19.495bn as of Aug 1, which includes $5.263bn held by commercial banks.