November 30, 2023 (MLN): The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose by $77 million or 1.07% WoW to $7.26 billion during the week ended on November 24, 2023, according to the data released by the central bank on Thursday.
Similarly, the country's total reserves rose by $90.5m or 0.74% WoW to $12.39bn.
The reserves held by commercial banks rose by $13.5m or 0.26% WoW to $5.14bn.
In a recent development, Pakistan has secured initial approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of the next loan tranche under the current $3bn 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 $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 $3.23bn or 35.29%.
Meanwhile, the current calendar year has seen an increase of $1.55bn or 14.27%.
