Pakistan’s forex reserves inch up at $8.7 billion

• Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increased $162 million to $8.702 billion.
• State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) improved $275 million to $3.192 billion.
• The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high of $20.146 billion.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves inched up at $8.702 billion by the week ended February 10, 2023, the central bank said on Thursday.

The total foreign exchange reserves of the country increased $162 million during the week, compared with $8.54 billion a week ago on February 3, 2023.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit the all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then, these have declined by $18.526 billion.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also improved $275 million to $3.192 billion by the week ended February 10, 2023, compared with $2.917 billion a week ago.

The current level of the official foreign exchange reserves are only to provide import cover for around two weeks or 19 days.

The import bill for January 2023 has been recorded at $4.856 billion, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The benchmark foreign exchange reserves of a central bank should be at a level to provide three months import cover.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP fell sharply to an almost nine-year low. Previously, the official forex reserves of the SBP were recorded at $3.19 billion in February 2014.

The central bank attributed the decline in the foreign exchange reserves to scheduled external repayments.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high of $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then, these have dropped by $16.954 billion.

However, the foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks also fell $113 million to $5.51 billion by the week ended February 10, 2023, compared with $5.623 billion a week ago.

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