Earlier this week State Bank had reported remittances were declining every month since October 2009 and the overseas Pakistanis sent $758.2 million in October, $742 million in November, $698.4 million in December and $667.9 million in Jan, 2010.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell to $10.70 billion from $10.72 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks eased to $3.78 billion from $3.80 billion the previous week.

Pakistan’s foreign reserves hit a record high of $16.5 billion in October 2007 but fell steadily to $6.6 billion by November 2008, largely because of a soaring import bill.

An International Monetary Fund emergency loan package of $7.6 billion agreed in November 2008 helped avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves.

The IMF increased the loan to $11.3 billion in July and the central bank received a fourth tranche of $1.2 billion on Dec. 28.

According to an article in Dollars Magazine, gap in the price of dollar between open market and the inter-bank has widened during this period and is still expanding despite the efforts made by the State Bank to control it.