Forex reserves surge by $12.5m to $8.06b

SBP attributes no specific reason for rise

KARACHI:

The central bank on Friday reported that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves reached $8.06 billion with a 0.155% week-on-week increase.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) did not cite any particular reason for the surge in reserves. According to data released by the SBP, its foreign currency reserves registered an increase of $12.5 million and reached $8,056.5 million in the week ended on February 9, 2024 compared to the previous week’s total of $8,044 million.

Read Forex reserves dip $173m to $8.04b

With the addition of commercial banks’ foreign currency reserves, Pakistan’s total liquid reserves stood at $13,149.1 million. Of these, the commercial banks held net reserves of $5,092.6 million. Earlier, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar announced that the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves would reach $9.1 billion following the receipt of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan tranche of $700 million in mid-January. It is pertinent to note that such high reserves had last been seen in July 2022.

Notably, any delay in the acquisition of the next programme will impact the rupee directly, as the country is due to repay significant foreign debt amidst low foreign exchange reserves, standing at $8 billion at present.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2024.

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