August 11, 2022 (MLN): The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country increased by $52.2 million or 4% WoW to stand at $13.61 billion during the week ended on August 12, 2022, compared to $13.56bn in the previous week, weekly data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed.
Data further revealed that reserves held by the central bank during the week moved up by $67mn or 0.85% WoW to clock in at $7.9bn compared to $7.8bn in the outgoing week.
On the other hand, reserves of commercial banks went down by $14.8mn or 0.25% WoW to $7.9bn.
Meanwhile, it is important to note that, the current level of foreign currency reserves is barely enough to cover 1.13 months of import bill.
The government officials are hopeful that the country will soon receive the funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the IMF’s Executive Board meeting for combined seventh and eighth reviews under the EFF has been scheduled for Aug 29.
The country’s deal with the fund to release two tranches worth $1.17bn under a stalled loan facility is trudging closer to the finish line.
On the forex front, after witnessing a strong gaining spree, PKR's downward journey towards its traditional course has started once again as it lost almost 95 paisa in two consecutive sessions.
