Foreign exchange reserves increased by $500 million this week: Ishaq Dar

Finance minister says the data released by SBP showed last week's reserves.

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar revealed on Friday that the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) went up by $500 million this week, reaching $3.4 billion.

Data released by the SBP a day earlier had stated that the foreign exchange reserves declined to a 12-year low of $2.9 billion. However, Dar clarified that the data was from last Friday and the current figures show that the reserves have increased.

According to the SBP data, foreign exchange reserves reduced $83.5 million, or 2.7%, between November 29 and December 6. Total liquid foreign reserves held by Pakistan on December 6 amounted a little over $8 billion.

By the end of November, the country’s official reserves had plunged to $3.05 billion, sufficient for only three weeks of imports. Owing to the shortage of dollars and administrative weakness of the State Bank of Pakistan, commercial banks had also refused to provide dollars to the exchange companies, forcing the Ministry of Finance to remind the SBP to do its job.

The finance minister also announced that there would be no gas price hike for private and domestic consumers. “The price hike is not under consideration. The news was based on miscommunication,” he said.