SBP-held foreign exchange reserves fall just below $8bn

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $74 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $7.981 billion as of April 19, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.28 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.299 billion.

The central bank cited external debt repayments as the reason for the decrease in the foreign currency reserves.

“During the week ended on 19-Apr-2024, SBP’s reserves decreased by US$ 74 million to US$ 7,981.2 million due to external debt repayments,” it said.

Last week, Pakistan’s central bank reserves had increased by $14.4 million.

The reserves had remained above $8 billion despite the repayment of $1 billion maturing Pakistan’s International Bond.

SBP chief Jameel Ahmad in a statement said qualitative improvements in the external account had allowed the central bank to more than double its foreign exchange reserves from $3.1 billion in January 2023 to around $8 billion despite the repayment of a $1 billion Eurobond this month.

He said Pakistan was hopeful of signing a long-term International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which will facilitate additional external financing and the adoption of structural reforms to deal with longstanding issues in the economy.

It may be noted that Pakistan is expected to receive $1.1 billion in final tranche of the current $3 billion Stand- By Arrangement (SBA).

The IMF on Wednesday said it’s Executive Board will meet on April 29 to discuss the approval of $1.1-billion funding for Pakistan.