The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased 10.85% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. The central bank attributed the increase to receipt of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Rapid Financing Instrument to cushion the economic impact of the Covid 19 shock. “The SBP has also made government’s external debt repayments amounting to $234 million,” the central bank said in a statement. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $18,463 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,392.7 million.