SBP reserves jump from $431mn to $9.11 billion

KARACHI: The Foreign exchange reserve held by the State Bank of Pakistan increased by US$ 431 million to US$ 9.11 billion during the week ending on November 29, ARY News reported on Thursday.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at US$15,993.2 million.

According to the break-up figures, the foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stood at US$ 9,112.9 million whereas the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at US$ 6,880.3 million.

During the current fiscal year, SBP reserves have increased by US$ 1.8 billion.

Read more: Economy on the mend, says Hafeez Shaikh

The FX swaps / forward liabilities have reduced by US$ 1.95 billion between June-Oct 2019, increase in the liquid SBP reserves and the reduction of the swaps / forward liabilities reflects the build-up of FX buffers.

Earlier, on December 4, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), said investment into premium prize bonds of Rs40,000 denomination sharply increased BY 192 percent.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) statistics showed that investment into registered or premium prize bonds surged to Rs17 billion in October 2019 compared with Rs5.8 billion in the corresponding month a year earlier.

The premium prize bonds are being issued only against computerised national identity cards with valid bank accounts.