Forex reserves increase to $4.59 billion

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose by 6.4% on a week-on-week basis to $4.3 billion, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday.

On March 17, 2023, the SBP’s foreign currency reserves stood at $4,598.7 million, up by $280 million compared to $4,319.1 million on March 10.

The central bank attributed the rise in foreign exchange reserves to the receipt of $500 million as government of Pakistan’s commercial loan disbursement.

“After accounting for external debt repayments, SBP reserves increased by $280 million to $4,598.7 million,” it said in a statement.

Overall, the liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $10,139.2 million. The net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,540.5 million.

Ismail Iqbal Securities Head of Research Fahad Rauf recently said that any significant improvement in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves depended on the revival of 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 current fiscal year,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2023.

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