SBP reserves decreased by $127m in a week

January 18, 2024 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) diminished by $127.4 million or 1.56% WoW to $8.03 billion during the week ended on January 12, 2024, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.

The central bank cited debt repayments as the reason for this decline.

Similarly, the country's total reserves fell by $111.5m or 0.84% WoW to $13.15bn.

The reserves held by commercial banks rose by $15.9m or 0.31% WoW to $5.12bn.

In a recent development, SBP has officially received the second installment of SDR 528m, equivalent to $705.6m from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This disbursement will be reflected in SBP reserves for the week ending on January 19, 2024, the data for which will be released next Thursday.

To note, towards the end of FY23, the IMF being a last resort saved Pakistan from a sovereign debt default with a $3bn Stand-by Arrangement (SBA).

The initial disbursement of $1.2bn from the IMF, alongside other bilateral inflows gave a substantial boost to the depleting foreign reserves held by the country.

Consequently, in the current fiscal year, total liquid foreign reserves have increased by $3.99bn or 43.51%.

Amount in USD Million

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