SBP’s foreign exchange reserves inch up by $66m

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) edged up by $66 million to $3.258 billion, ARY News reported on Thursday, citing data released by the central bank.

According to a statement issued by the central bank, SBP’s foreign exchange reserves have increased by $66 million to $3,258.5 million as of the week ended February 17, which will provide an import cover of around three weeks.

However, the central bank gave no reason for the increase in reserves.

Meanwhile, the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stand at $5.468 billion, taking the total liquid foreign reserves to $8.726 million.

Last week, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves witnessed an increase of $276 million to $3.193 billion after having maintained a declining trend in the last three weeks.

Pakistan was eyeing to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would not only lead to a disbursement of $1.2bn but also unlock inflows from friendly countries.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded a big increase in the interest rates to unlock the critical loan tranche — which will pave way for more funding.

Pakistan has been constantly pressurized to take important measures on time and the IMF demanded strict monetary policy which may result in the hike of interest rates as well.

Sources said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) sold T-bills worth 258 billion USD on February 22 and the interest rate of the state bank is 17 percent.