Official reserve assets rise to $13.77bn as of March

April 15, 2024 (MLN): The official reserve assets, including foreign currency reserves, reserve position in funds, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), gold, and other reserve assets, rose to $13.77 billion as of March 2024 compared to $13.34bn recorded in the previous month.

This translates to a rise of $427.26m or 3.2% MoM.

According to the monthly data published by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday, the foreign currency reserves, which consist of securities, currency, and deposits held with other central banks and banks in Pakistan and abroad, stood at $4.79bn as against $4.78bn held a month earlier, depicting a rise of $9.22m or 0.2%

The gold reserves, which include gold deposits and swapped gold stood at $4.6bn, up $346.15m or 8.1% from the previous month's $4.26bn.

Meanwhile, the country's other reserve assets were recorded at $4.16bn, up $239.7m or 6.1% from $3.92bn a month earlier.

The data further details that SDRs amounted to $205.26m, down $167.8m or 45.0% from $373.06m 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.

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