SBP reports slight increase in forex reserves

WEB DESK: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a marginal increase of $3.7 million, or 0.05 per cent week-on-week (WoW), bringing its foreign exchange reserves to $7.51 billion by the week ending November 3, 2023, as per data released by the central bank on Friday.

In a parallel trend, the nation’s overall reserves witnessed a rise of $37.6 million, or 0.3 per cent WoW, reaching $12.61 billion.

Concurrently, reserves held by commercial banks grew by $33.9 million, or 0.67 per cent WoW, reaching $5.1 billion.

It is noteworthy that towards the conclusion of FY23, Pakistan successfully obtained a $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), preventing the nation from a looming default.

The initial disbursement of $1.2 billion under the SBA in July 2023, combined with $3 billion in bilateral inflows from Arab countries, significantly bolstered the country’s depleting foreign reserves.

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Consequently, in the ongoing fiscal year, the total liquid foreign reserves have surged by $3.45 billion, marking a substantial increase of 37.71 per cent.

However, after the injections from the IMF and Arab countries, recent inflows appear to be dwindling, contributing to a gradual depletion of total reserves almost every week.

In the meantime, the current calendar year has witnessed an uptick of $1.77 billion, translating to a 16.31 per cent increase.