SBP reserves rise $811m to $12.04b

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased 7.2% on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On July 3, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $12,041.6 million, up $811 million compared with $11,231 million in the previous week.

According to the central bank, the increase has been attributed to proceeds of $1,000 million as loan disbursement from China to Pakistan. “During the week, the SBP also made government’s external debt payments of $231.2 million,” it said. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $18,790.1 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,748.5 million.

Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9 last year, which helped bolster the reserves. In late December, the IMF released the second loan tranche of around $454 million.

Previously, the reserves jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2020.

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