Forex reserves rise to $4.31b

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose by 0.4% on a week-on-week basis to $4.3 billion, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On March 10, 2023, the SBP’s foreign currency reserves stood at $4,319.1 million, up by $18 million compared to $4,301 million on March 3.

The central bank didn’t give any reason for the rise.

Overall, the liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $9,846.8 million. The net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,527.7 million.

Read more: SBP’s forex reserves rise to $4.3b

Ismail Iqbal Securities, Head of Research, Fahad Rauf recently said that any further improvement in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves level depended on the revival of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan programme and the inflow of fresh financing from other multilateral and bilateral creditors.

“They (FX reserves) are projected to rise to around $7-8 billion by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2023,” he said.

The country’s reserves have continued to improve after the central bank opted to buy US dollars from the interbank market in wake of a surge in supply of the greenback compared to its demand.

“Availability of surplus US dollars in the interbank market has prompted the central bank to intervene (buy the surplus),” said a source.