Foreign exchange reserves rise to $20bn: Dar

Finance minister says govt received different transactions worth $1.6bn since Wednesday, which pushed up reserves

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Thursday the country's foreign exchange reserves have crossed an all time high mark of $20 billion.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Dar said out of the $20.07 billion, $15.24 billion were with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), while the rest $4.83 billion with commercial banks, Radio Pakistan reported.

Highlighting the reason for the rise, Dar said the government received different transactions worth $1.6 billion since Wednesday, which pushed up the reserves. These included $500 million each from Euro Bond and IMF tranche, $375 million from the Coalition Support Fund and another transaction of $265 million.

Read: Stability: Dar aims for high foreign reserves

Dar claimed the rise was unthinkable in February last year when the reserves with the SBP were just $2.75 billion.

PM extend felicitations

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the nation and the finance minister on crossing the foreign currency reserves mark.

Claiming that this was the highest ever figure in the reserves attained by the country, he said Pakistan was progressing steadily and gaining economic ground.