April 15, 2024 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) remained stable at $8.04 billion during the week ended on April 05, 2024, according to the data released by the central bank on Monday.
On the other hand, the country's total reserves rose by $62.8m or 0.47% WoW to $13.44bn.
This was because the reserves held by commercial banks rose by $62.9m or 1.18% WoW to $5.4bn.
In a recent development, Pakistan executed the repayment of $1bn Pakistan’s International Bond on April 12, 2024.
Accordingly, the SBP-held reserves will fall to around $7bn, which will likely be reflected in next week's reserves position.
However, last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement on the final review under Pakistan’s Stand-By Arrangement, subject to the approval of the IMF’s Executive Board.
Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to SDR 828 million which is around $1.1bn.
Furthermore, the country is in discussions with the IMF on a potential follow-up program to its current stand-by arrangement, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said last week.
To note, in the current fiscal year, total liquid foreign reserves have increased by $4.28bn or 46.74%.
Meanwhile, the current calendar year has seen an increase of $0.77bn or 6.06%.
