SBP's FX purchases ease to $728m in January 2026

April 27, 2026 (MLN):  The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) purchased $728 million from the interbank foreign exchange market in January 2026, according to official data released by its Domestic Markets & Monetary Management Department.

The latest intervention marked a moderation from the previous month, when SBP bought $1.024 billion in December 2025, suggesting a slight easing in foreign exchange inflows after a strong close to the calendar year.

On a year-on-year basis, however, January's purchases were nearly five times the $154 million recorded in January 2025, reflecting dramatically stronger inflow conditions compared to the same month last year.

During the first seven months of fiscal year 2026 (July 2025–January 2026), the central bank purchased a cumulative net $4.874 billion from the market.

Purchases were heavily concentrated in September, October, and December, with each of those months exceeding $1 billion, while July and August remained relatively subdued and January registered a mid-range figure.

In comparison, SBP had purchased $5.104 billion during the same period of fiscal year 2025 (July 2024–January 2025), suggesting that cumulative inflows over the seven-month period remain somewhat softer than last year's levels.

The latest cumulative figure represents a year-on-year decline of approximately $230 million.

The SBP defines Net FX Intervention as outright and swap purchases of foreign exchange minus outright and swap sales conducted with banks in the interbank market.

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