The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased $166 million to $12,757 million during the week ending February 28, 2020, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $18,869 million. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks recorded a dip from $6,151.3 million in the week ending February 21, to $6,111.5 million in the succeeding week.

The central bank did not cite a reason for the increase in state bank reserves, or the decrease in net foreign reserves held by commercial banks.

The total liquid foreign reserves have consistently been on the rise for the past seven months. The total reserves initially crossed the $15 billion mark in July 2019, crossed the $16 billion mark in November 2019, and finally crossed the $18 billion mark in January 2020.