Forex reserves show improvement
PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), saw a notable increase of 15.06% on a weekly basis, reaching $4.06 billion, as reported on Monday. This rise of $533 million from the previous week’s reserves of $3.54 billion was primarily attributed to the realisation of $300 million from the government of Pakistan’s commercial loan.
When considering the total liquid foreign currency reserves, including those held by banks other than the SBP, the overall reserves amounted to $9.3 billion, with net reserves held by banks standing at $5.2 billion.
On June 29, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) “on policies to be supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA)”. The SLA is subject to approval from the IMF executive board. According to a press release, its consideration is expected by mid-July.
“I am pleased to announce that the IMF team has reached a SLA with the Pakistani authorities on a nine-month SBA in the amount of about $3 billion or 111% of Pakistan’s IMF quota,” said IMF Mission Chief to Pakistan, Nathan Porter
The new SLA with the IMF is expected to further boost the reserves in the coming days.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2023.
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