SBP’s foreign exchange reserves inch up to $4.46bn

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose by $30 million to $4.46 billion in the week ending on April 20, as the country tries to find ways to secure external financing, ARY News reported on Thursday, quoting centra bank.

In a statement, the central bank said that its reserves have inched up by $30 million to $4.46 billion as of April 20, which will provide an import cover of less than a month.

Total liquid foreign #reserves held by the country stood at US$ 10.02 billion as of April 20, 2023.
For details https://t.co/WpSgomnKT3 pic.twitter.com/rPr2dVh4Z9

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) April 27, 2023

Meanwhile, the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stand at $5.56 billion, $1.1 billion more than the SBP, taking the total liquid foreign reserves to $10.02 billion.

However, the central bank did not specify the reason behind the increase in foreign exchange reserves.

Earlier on April 20, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased to $4.43 billion after receiving Rs300 million commercial loan from China.

The SBP spokesperson confirmed that $300 million commercial loan from China was received and $384 million was increased to the central bank’s reserves. The total reserves of the SBP increased to $4.43 billion from $4.03 billion.

Pakistan’s economy is in turmoil amid financial woes and the delay in an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would release much-needed funding crucial to avoid the risk of default.

On April 21, it was reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked Pakistan to ‘do more’ to unlock stalled loan programme despite the assurances from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about external funds.

The meeting of Finance Secretary Hamid Yakoob in the US remained ‘unfruitful’ with the International Monetary Fund as the international lender has given the plan to arrange $1 billion from commercial banks to unlock the loan program.

The staff-level agreement was supposed to be signed on February 9 but had been delayed after then over IMF’s demands.