According to data released on Thursday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) witnessed a weekly increase of $77 million in its foreign exchange reserves, reaching $7.26 billion as of November 24.
The total liquid foreign reserves for the country amounted to $12.39 billion, with commercial banks holding net foreign reserves at $5.13 billion.
During the week ending on November 24, 2023, SBP’s reserves increased by $77 million, reaching $7,257.0 million. Contrastingly, the previous week saw a decrease of $217 million in Pakistan’s central bank reserves.
In July of this year, the central bank’s reserves received a boost as Pakistan obtained the initial tranche of approximately $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the approval of a new $3-billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
This boost was complemented by inflows from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
However, the SBP reserves faced pressure due to debt repayments, a surge in import payments after the easing of restrictions, and a lack of fresh inflows.
In a significant development, the IMF announced last week that its staff and Pakistani authorities had reached an agreement on the first review of the SBA.
The staff-level agreement is pending approval by the IMF Executive Board.
The IMF team reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Pakistani authorities on the first review of their stabilization program supported by the IMF’s $3 billion (SDR2,250 million) SBA.
Upon approval, approximately $700 million (SDR 528 million) will become available, bringing total disbursements under the program to almost $1.9 billion.
Following the SLA with the IMF, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar expressed confidence that external financing would not be an issue, anticipating inflows in December 2023 to contribute to an increase in foreign exchange reserves.
