December 05, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan's gold reserves, which include gold deposits and swapped gold stood at $5.52 billion as of November 2024, down $172.95 million or 3% compared to last month.
The decline witnessed during the review month is attributed to a significant drop in international gold prices. The yellow metal fell by 3.41% in November, marking its first monthly decline in five months.
According to the monthly data published by 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, rose to $18.69bn as of November compared to $18.03bn recorded in the previous month.
This translates to a rise of $661.28m or 3.7% 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 $6.81bn as against $5.86bn held a month earlier, depicting a rise of $944.65m or 16.1%
Meanwhile, the country's other reserve assets were recorded at $6.07bn, up $51.2m or 0.9% from $6.02bn a month earlier.
The data further details that SDRs amounted to $287.49m, down $161.61m or 36.0% from $449.1m 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 a decrease from the previous month.