ISLAMABAD, May 9 -- The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said Thursday that its foreign exchange reserves had increased by 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.

During the week ending on May 3, the total foreign exchange reserves of the bank moved to around 9.1 billion dollars, the central bank said in a statement.

The increase occurred "mainly due to receipt of 1.1 billion dollars from International Monetary Fund as final tranche under Stand-By Agreement program," it added.

Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks came at around 5.3 billion dollars, the central bank said.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the South Asian country stood at about 14.4 billion dollars, according to the SBP.

  - Xinhua