SBP reports weekly drop in forex reserves amid debt repayments

WEB DESK: During the week ending January 12, 2024, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) witnessed a reduction in its foreign exchange reserves by $127 million, bringing the total to $8,027.4 million.

This decline was attributed to debt repayments, as disclosed in data released on Thursday.

The overall liquid foreign reserves of the country were reported at $13.15 billion, with commercial banks holding net foreign reserves amounting to $5.12 billion.

Notably, the SBP’s reserves had decreased by $66 million in the previous week.

In a significant development, Pakistan received a substantial tranche of $705.6 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as announced in a statement by the SBP on Wednesday.

This disbursement, equivalent to SDR 528 million, was received on January 16, 2024, following the successful completion of the first review by the Executive Board of the IMF under the Standby Arrangement (SBA).

The SBP clarified in a post on X that this disbursement would be reflected in its reserves for the week ending January 19.

The decrease in reserves during the reported week was primarily due to the aforementioned debt repayments.

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