January 10, 2025 (MLN): Pakistan's gold reserves, which include gold deposits and swapped gold stood at $5.43 billion as of December 2024, down $83.25 million or 1.5% compared to last month.
According to the monthly data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the official reserve assets, including foreign currency reserves, reserve position in funds, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), gold, and other reserve assets, fell to $18.28bn as of December compared to $18.69bn recorded in the previous month.
This translates to a fall of $404.56m or 2.2% MoM.
The foreign currency reserves, which consist of securities, currency, and deposits held with other central banks and banks in Pakistan and abroad, stood at $7.75bn as against $6.81bn held a month earlier, depicting a rise of $937.33m or 13.8%
Meanwhile, the country's other reserve assets were recorded at $5.05bn, down $1.03bn or 16.9% from $6.07bn a month earlier.
The data further details that SDRs amounted to $54.06m, down $233.43m or 81.2% from $287.49m the previous month.
To note, the SDR is an international reserve asset. It is not a currency, but it 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, representing Pakistan’s quota in the IMF, was $0.16m, reflecting a decrease from the previous month.
