KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $258 million to $4.6 billion, data released on Thursday showed.
Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $10.44 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.84 billion. According to AHL, this is the first increase in the reserves in 8 weeks.
“During the week ended on January 13, 2023, SBP’s reserves increased by $258 million to $4,601.2 million,” SBP said in a statement.
In the previous week, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP had fallen by a hefty $1.23 billion to a highly critical level of $4.34 billion.
The central bank reserves, which were around $18 billion at the beginning of 2022 but have significantly decreased, highlight the pressing need for Pakistan to finish the next assessment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
As of right moment, discussions for the ninth review appear to have halted due to a few earlier requirements of the Washington-based lender.
Despite having a severe shortage of foreign exchange reserves, the government is nonetheless making payments on its international debt commitments to stay out of default.
At the same time, policymakers are scrambling to secure inflows of dollars.
On Wednesday, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad said that the UAE has rolled over $2 billion loan and assured the businessmen of facilitating their imports on a suppliers’ credit. He also said that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves position will improve as the country is expected to witness inflows of funds in the coming days.
Earlier, Pakistan also signed an agreement with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), a Saudi Arabian government agency that provides development assistance to developing countries, to finance oil derivatives worth $1 billion to Pakistan.
