KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign exchange reserves have decreased $134 million on a weekly basis, clocking in $7.83 billion as of November 18, 2022, according to data released on Thursday.
Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.65 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.82 billion.
SBP-held foreign exchange reserves rise $3mn, stand at $7.96bn
The SBP stated in a statement that due to external debt repayment, SBP’s reserves declined by $134 million to $7,825.7 million during the week ending on November 18, 2022.
The SBP would get $500 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in the current month, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated earlier in the month.
The AIIB board approved the funding as “co-financing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded BRACE program for Pakistan.” the finance minister announced in a tweet.
“These Funds will be received by State Bank of Pakistan within November 2022.” he said.
On October 26, 2022, the SBP also got $1.5 billion from the ADB as a loan disbursement for the government of Pakistan.
SBP’s reserves increased in September as a result of the central bank receiving the $1.2 billion tranche from the IMF (IMF).
Moreover, the Saudi Development Fund extended a $3 billion deposit with the SBP that was scheduled to expire in December 2022. However, as the money was already a part of SBP’s reserves, this move was not intended to increase foreign exchange.
For Pakistan, which has been frantically seeking dollar inflows to meet its balance-of-payments needs, the reserve position is crucial.
