Forex reserves dip $173m to $8.04b

SBP attributes decrease to debt repayment; rupee appreciates slightly

KARACHI:

The central bank on Friday reported that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves reached $8.04 billion with a 2.1% week-on-week decline.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a statement, explained that the reduction in reserves came as a result of debt repayments by the country.

According to data released by the SBP, its foreign currency reserves registered a drop of $173 million and reached $8,044 million in the week ended on February 2, 2024 compared to the previous week’s total of $8,216.5 million.

With the addition of commercial banks’ foreign currency reserves, Pakistan’s total liquid reserves stood at $13,097.6 million. Of these, the commercial banks held net reserves of $5,053.6 million.

Read Forex reserves dip $54m to $8.21b

A couple of weeks ago, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar announced that the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves would reach $9.1 billion following the receipt of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan tranche of $700 million in mid-January.

Such high reserves had last been seen in July 2022, indicating they spiked to an 18-month high. The IMF had wanted Pakistan to achieve that level by June 2024, but the country did it five months ahead.

Pakistani rupee on Friday edged up 0.02%, or Rs0.06, to Rs279.28 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market compared to Wednesday’s close at Rs279.34. The rupee maintained its winning streak for the third consecutive working day apparently in the wake of higher inflows of foreign currency.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2024.

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