Foreign exchange: SBP reserves jump $14m to $10.9b

Inflow of $452.4m from IMF to be reflected in next week's data

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased 0.13% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

Earlier, the reserves had spiralled downwards, falling below the $7-billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan's ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.

On December 23, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $10,907.3 million, up $14 million compared with $10,892.9 million in the previous week.

The central bank also received inflows worth $452.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as second tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme on December 23, 2019. "These funds will be part of the SBP weekly reserves data as of December 27, 2019, to be released on January 02, 2020," the statement added.

Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $17,595.2 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,687.9 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the IMF on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country's ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.

Earlier, the SBP received $350 million under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). A few weeks earlier, the SBP successfully made a foreign debt repayment of over $1 billion on the maturity of Sukuk.