October 26, 2023 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $219.8 million or 2.85% WoW to $7.49 billion during the week ended on October 20, 2023, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.
The decline in SBP’s reserves was on account of debt repayments.
Similarly, the country's total reserves fell by $257.3m or 1.99% WoW to $12.66bn.
The reserves held by commercial banks diminished by $37.5m or 0.72% WoW to $5.16bn.
To note, since the Stand-by Agreement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the initial disbursement of $1.2bn from the IMF, alongside $3bn bilateral inflows from the Arab countries 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 $3.5bn or 38.16%.
However, ever since the boost from the IMF and the Arab countries, fresh inflows seem to have dried up, with the total reserves slowly depleting almost every week.
Meanwhile, the current calendar year has seen an increase of $1.81bn or 16.69%.
