State bank Forex Reserves increase to 11.5 billion dollars: Finance Ministry

The Ministry of Finance stated exports increased by 4 per cent to 12.3 billion dollars in the Jul-Dec 2019 period while the imports decreased by 21 percent to 22 billion dollars in Jul-Dec period.

According to the details, Finance Ministry said that State Bank of Pakistan Forex Reserves had increased to 11.5 billion dollars last month from 7.2 billion dollars in June last year.

The Ministry of Finance said actions by the government have helped stabilize the economy and reduce the unsustainable fiscal and trade deficits, leading to restoration of business confidence.

The Finance Division said the success of the measures taken by the government to restore and further improve the business confidence is evident in the performance indicators which have significantly improved on many fronts.

The statement said Moody’s Investors Services upgraded Pakistan’s outlook from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’ last month, reaffirming the country’s rating of B3, whereas in June 2018, Moodys had downgraded outlook to ‘negative’.

Similarly, Pakistan’s ranking in the Ease of Doing index also moved higher by 28 points while the World Bank ranked Pakistan among the Top 10 reformers last year. Likewise, Bloomberg had showcased Pakistan Stock Exchange as the top performing market in the world in the last three months. PSX benchmark KSE 100-share Index gained 50 percent in dollar terms since August last.

The statement by the Finance Division also mentioned the remittances which had increased by 3 per cent to 11.4 billion dollars during Jul-Dec period. Similarly, after 4 years of outflow, net portfolio investment went up to 1.4 billion dollars during the Jul-Dec FY20.