State Bank of Pakistan reserves hit all-time high of $20.15b

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank surged 14.6% on a weekly basis, hitting an all-time high of $20.15 billion, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On August 27, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $20,145.6 million, up $2,567 million compared with $17,578.9 million on August 20.

On August 23, the central bank received general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of $2,751.8 million, which helped lift the reserves to a historic high.

“After accounting for external debt payments, reserves increased by $2,567 million to $20,145.6 million,” the central bank said.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $27,227.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,082.1 million.

Earlier, Pakistan borrowed $2.5 billion through Eurobonds on March 30, 2021 by offering lucrative interest rates to lenders aimed at building the foreign exchange reserves.

It received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the IMF on July 9, 2019, which helped bolster the reserves. In late December 2019, the IMF released the second loan tranche of around $454 million.

The reserves also jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China. In 2020, the SBP successfully made foreign debt repayment of over $1 billion on the maturity of Sukuk.

In December 2019, the foreign exchange reserves surpassed the $10 billion mark owing to inflows from multilateral lenders including $1.3 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).