SBP’s foreign exchange reserves register drop

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves, held by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), registered a drop of $0.1 million to $8.04 billion during the week ended on April 5, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the central bank, the total liquid foreign reserves of Pakistan reached $13.441 billion in the week ended on April 5, 2024.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by 0.1 million to $ 8.040 million during the week under review.

Meanwhile, net foreign reserves held by commercial banks were recorded $5.401 billion, it added. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, in the previous week ended on March 29, 2024, were $13.378 billion.

Among them foreign reserves held by the central bank were $8.040 billion while net foreign reserves held by commercial banks were $5.338 billion.

Earlier on April 13, Pakistan repaid $1 billion in Eurobonds as a scheduled payment ahead of seeking a long-term bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The bond, launched in 2014 and repaid on Friday, was maturing this month. “The payment was made to the agent bank for onward distribution to the bond holders,” the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement.

Pakistan has been struggling with a balance of payments crisis, record inflation and steep currency devaluation since an IMF standby arrangement averted a sovereign default.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is in Washington to attend the IMF-World Bank spring meeting, where he will start negotiations for Pakistan’s 24th long-term IMF bailout.