Foreign exchange reserves fell by $27 million to $12.968 billion in the week ending April 16, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Saturday. Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan dipped slightly to $10.220 billion from $10.249 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $2.748 billion from $2.745 billion, the central bank said in a statement.

The bank gave no reason for the dip in reserves but bankers said the slip in recent weeks was because the central bank had sold dollars to commercial banks to cover oil import payments.

Copyright Reuters, 2005