Official reserve assets fall to $13.34bn as of February

February 07, 2024 (MLN): The official reserve assets, including foreign currency reserves, reserve position in funds, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), gold, and other reserve assets, stood at $13.34 billion as of February 2024 compared to $13.53bn recorded in the previous month.

According to the monthly data published by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the foreign currency reserves, which consist of securities, currency, and deposits held with other central banks and banks in Pakistan and abroad, fell to $4.78bn as against $5.03bn held a month earlier.

The gold reserves, which include gold deposits and swapped gold stood at $4.26bn, down slightly from $4.27bn from the previous month.

Meanwhile, the country's other reserve assets were recorded at $3.92bn, up from $3.7bn a month earlier.

The data further details that SDRs amounted to $373m, down from $531.43m the previous month.

To note, the SDR is an international reserve asset. It is not a currency, but its value is based on a basket of five currencies, the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.

Additionally, the reserve position in funds, which represents Pakistan’s quota in the IMF, was $0.16m, reflecting no change from the previous month.

Copyright Mettis Link News