SBP reserves rise by $69.5 million, while commercial banks face decline

ISLAMABAD: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) saw a modest increase of $69.5 million, or 0.66 per cent, reaching $10.68 billion for the week ending March 28, 2025, according to data released by the SBP on Thursday.

In a similar trend, the country’s total reserves rose by $28.7 million, or 0.18 per cent, bringing the total to $15.58 billion.

However, reserves held by commercial banks experienced a slight dip, falling by $40.8 million, or 0.83 per cent, to settle at $4.9 billion.

On a broader scale, SBP-held reserves have shown a notable improvement of $1.29 billion, reflecting a 13.7 per cent increase since the start of the current fiscal year. Conversely, reserves in the current calendar year have dropped by $1.03 billion, a decrease of 8.83 per cent.

In a separate development, the SBP conducted a reverse repo and Shariah-compliant Modarabah-based Open Market Operation (OMO) on Thursday.

As part of this operation, the central bank injected a substantial Rs2.9 trillion into the market. Of this, Rs2.38 trillion was injected via the reverse repo OMO.

Open Market Operations (OMOs) are a key tool used by the SBP to manage liquidity within the banking system. Through these operations, the central bank either injects or absorbs funds from the market by buying or selling eligible securities.

For liquidity injections, the SBP lends funds to banks and Primary Dealers (PDs) against government securities such as Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). This helps address any liquidity shortages in the financial system.

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