January 11, 2024 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $66.4 million or 0.81% WoW to $8.15 billion during the week ended on January 05, 2024, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.
The central bank attributed this decline to debt repayments.
On the other hand, the country's total reserves rose by $36m or 0.27% WoW to $13.26bn.
The reserves held by commercial banks rose by $102.4m or 2.05% WoW to $5.1bn.
Pakistani authorities are scheduled to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today for the second tranche of the current loan program.
Pending approval by the IMF's Executive Board, the agreement will grant Pakistan access to SDR 528m, which is around $700m.
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 $4.1bn or 44.72%.
In the calendar year 2023, the country's total reserves rose by $2.38bn or 21.9%.
