SBP’s foreign exchange reserves rise $258m to $4.601bn

KARACHI: Snapping a two-month declining spree, foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $258 million to $4.601 billion, ARY News reported, quoting the central bank.

“During the week ended on January 13, 2023, SBP’s reserves increased by $258 million to $4,601.2 million after a decline of $3.6 billion in the last two months,” the central bank said in a statement.

Total liquid foreign #reserves held by the country stood at US$ 10.44 billion as of January 13, 2023.
For details https://t.co/WpSgomnKT3 pic.twitter.com/DQUGDu3oNT

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) January 19, 2023

Meanwhile, the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $10.44 billion, whereas net foreign reserves with commercial banks stood at $5.84 billion.

The central bank, in the statement, pointed out that the forex reserves would provide import cover of 0.82 months.

In the previous week, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP had fallen by a hefty $1.23 billion to a highly critical level of $4.34 billion.

Earlier on January 7, it was reported that the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) plunged by $1.2bn to reach $4.5 billion.

The reserves were fallen to $4.5 billion after the new debt repayments to UAE. Pakistan paid back $600mn to the Emirates NBD Bank and $415mn to the DIB on Friday, they say.

In January, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan would soon get from friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Talking to journalists in Islamabad, the government was repaying the country’s due debt on time, regretting that the country’s foreign exchange reserves were plunging due to external debt payment.