Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by $1.245 billion to $17.225 billion during the week ended July 10, 2026, primarily due to external debt repayments, the central bank said on Thursday.

According to the SBP, the country's total liquid foreign exchange reserves decreased by $1.313 billion to $22.675 billion during the reporting week. Meanwhile, reserves held by commercial banks fell by $68 million to $5.449 billion.

Despite the weekly decline, the SBP highlighted the significant improvement in Pakistan's external position over the past three years. The central bank has increased its foreign exchange reserves from around $3 billion in 2023 to above $18 billion, even after meeting sizeable external debt obligations and reducing forward and swap liabilities.

The SBP stated that the reserve accumulation has not been driven by external borrowings. Instead, it has purchased more than $27 billion from the interbank market over the last three years, using these inflows to both service external debt and strengthen reserve buffers.

Looking ahead, the central bank expects the upward trend in reserves to continue during the current fiscal year and remains confident of raising its foreign exchange reserves to over $20 billion by the end of December 2026.