The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by $143 million on a weekly basis, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday. As of December 27, the SBP’s foreign currency reserves were recorded at $11.711 billion, down from $11.854 billion on December 20. The central bank attributed the decline to external debt repayments.

Meanwhile, the country’s overall liquid foreign currency reserves, which include net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, increased by $37 million over the previous week to reach $16.409 billion. The net reserves held by commercial banks rose to $4.698 billion, reflecting an increase of $179 million from $4.518 billion recorded the previous week.

In the prior week, the reserves held by the SBP had dropped by $228 million, bringing the total below the $12 billion mark.