KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased by $18 million to $15.098 billion during the week ending April 17, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The country’s total liquid foreign reserves rose by $104 million to $20.629 billion. The reserves of commercial banks also increased by $86 million to $5.531 billion.
Pakistan has received $3 billion in financial support from Saudi Arabia to bolster its FX reserves and offset a loan repayment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This new funding comes in addition to Riyadh’s decision to roll over an existing $5 billion deposit for a longer period.
The country repaid $2.4 billion to the UAE last week, fulfilling its debt obligations, while the remaining $1 billion was due on April 23.
“Reserves will likely remain at these levels till the time the IMF Executive Board clears $1.2 billion, as the inflows from Saudi Arabia and Eurobond will mostly be settled against payment of UAE deposits,” said Awais Ashraf, director of research at AKD Securities Limited. Recently, Central
Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad stated that with the continued SBP’s purchases from the interbank market and realisation of official inflows, including under fresh bilateral arrangements, SBP’s FX reserves are expected to strengthen to around $18 billion by June 2026.
Pakistan returned to international capital markets after four years through the issuance of a $500 million Eurobond. However, it increased the bond to $750 million by exercising the green-shoe option.
According to reports, the IMF’s executive board is expected to consider approval of a staff-level agreement next month, potentially paving the way for a new disbursement of about $1.2 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
