Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) surged $61 million, clocking in at nearly $4.52 billion as of July 7, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $9.84 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.31 billion.

“During the week ended on July 7, 2023, SBP reserves increased by $61 million to $4,524.0 million,” cited SBP statement.

“Subsequently, during the current week, SBP received inflow of $2 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, $1 billion from United Arab Emirates and around $1.2 billion from IMF. These inflows will be reflected in SBP’s forex reserves for the week ending on July 14, 2023.”

Last week, SBP reserves surged $393 million to $4.46 billion.

Earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the receipt of $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The development gave a much-needed boost to the economy reeling from dollar shortage and runaway inflation.

“I would like to share the information that the IMF has deposited $1.2 billion upfront payment in the account of SBP,” said Dar in a news briefing.

“Last night, the IMF Executive Board approved the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).”

On Wednesday, United Arab Emirates (UAE) deposited $1 billion in Pakistan’s central bank while on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia extended assistance worth $2 billion to Pakistan.

In total, $4.2 billion have been received by Pakistan over the past 3 days.

These additions to the reserves will be reflected in next week’s data. Dar expects Pakistan’s reserves to close at $14 billion next week.