ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that its foreign exchange reserves increased by $14 million or 0.18% WoW, reaching $7.51 billion at the end of the week on October 27, 2023.
The commercial banks, nevertheless, experienced a decrease in their reserves, with a reduction of $92.6 million or 1.79% WoW, resulting in a balance of $5.07 billion.
Conversely, the country’s total reserves decreased by $79 million or 0.62% WoW, settling at $12.58 billion because of a decline in the commercial banks’ reserves. The State Bank of Pakistan mentioned about $14 million in its reserves, but the SBP did not point out a decline in the commercial banks’ reserves last week.
The central bank issued the latest data today about the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan.
Pakistan secured a $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) near the end of FY23, preventing the nation from defaulting during a financially challenging period.
The initial disbursement of $1.2 billion under the SBA in July 2023, coupled with $3 billion in bilateral inflows from Arab countries, significantly boosted the country’s dwindling foreign reserves.
As a result, the total liquid foreign reserves for the current fiscal year have risen by $3.42 billion, representing a growth of 37.3%.
However, since the initial influx from the IMF and Arab countries, new inflows appear to have slowed down, causing a gradual depletion of the total reserves on a weekly basis.
IMF and Govt teams hold first round of talks in Islamabad
Meanwhile, the IMF and the government teams held a first round of talks for the evaluation of the economic performance of Pakistan under the Stand-by Arrangement.
Nathan Porter, IMF mission chief, is leading the team of the fund.
Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, secretary of finance, chairman of FBR, and other officials of the government’s economic team are holding discussions with the IMF.
On Thursday, the economic team and the IMF officials discussed the initial process for measuring the economic performance of Pakistan under the SBA.
Both sides will hold technical and policy level talks for 15 days in Pakistan, followed by a decisive round of virtual parleys between IMF top officials in Washington and the government’s team in Islamabad.
