SBP reserves fell by $140.4m in a week

September 14, 2023 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell by $140.4 million or 1.8% WoW to $7.64 billion during the week ended on September 08, 2023, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.

The decline was due to debt repayment.

Similarly, the country's total reserves decreased by $47.6m or 0.36% WoW to $13.08bn.

The reserves held by commercial banks rose by $92.8m or 1.74% WoW to $5.44bn.

To note, since the Staff Level Agreement (SLA) was signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country got a substantial boost, with a $1.2bn immediate disbursement received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a $2bn deposit from Saudi Arabia and an additional $1bn deposit from United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Consequently, in the current fiscal year, total liquid foreign reserves have increased by $3.9bn or 42.45%.

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 $2.23bn or 20.6%.

Amount in USD Million

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