Pakistan’s weekly forex reserves move up by $93 million

KARACHI: Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves moved by $93 million by week ended March 10, 2023, central bank said on Thursday.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country increased to $9.847 billion by week ended March 10, 2023 when compared with $9.754 billion a week ago i.e. March 03, 2023, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $17.381 billion.

On the other hand, the official reserves of the SBP increased $18 million to $4.319 billion by week ended March 10, 2023 when compared with $4.301 billion a week ago.

Foreign exchange reserves of the SBP have been increased to a level for providing more than one month import cover.

After many week the official reserves of the central crossed one month import cover. The import bill of the country during the month of February 2023 was recorded at $4 billion.

Ideally a central bank should have a level of foreign exchange reserves that is equal to three-month of import payment by a country.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $15.827 billion.

Meanwhile, the foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks also increased by $75 million to $5.528 billion by the week ended March 10, 2023 when compared with $5.453 billion a week ago.

Pakistan is facing massive shortfall of foreign exchange to support its balance of payment. The government is striving hard to strike a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for obtaining a tranche of $1.2 billion under Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

However, in a positive development substantial foreign inflows received from China, which improved stock of the foreign exchange reserves.