KARACHI: Weekly foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $556 million by week ended February 24, 2023, according to official numbers released on Thursday.
The SBP’s official reserves have been recorded at $3.814 billion by week ended February 24, 2023 as compared with $3.258 billion a week ago i.e. February 17, 2023.
READ MORE: SBP’s foreign exchange reserves inch up to reach $3.26 billion
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 about $700 million from China were transferred last week, which improved stock of the foreign exchange reserves.
Previously, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that China Development Bank (CDB) approved a loan of $700 million for Pakistan.
READ MORE: Foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan rise to $8.70 billion
The current level of the official foreign exchange reserves are only to provide import cover for about three weeks.
The import bill for the month of January 2023 has been recorded at $4.856 billion, as per 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 SBP attributed the gain in official reserves to $ 700 million as government of Pakistan commercial loan disbursement from China.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves fall below $3 billion or nine-year low
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 $16.332 billion.
The total foreign exchange reserves of the country have increased by $542 million to $9.268 billion by week ended February 24, 2023 as compared with $8.726 billion a week ago.
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 $17.96 billion.
READ MORE: SBP’s foreign exchange reserves drop to dangerous level of $3.09 billion
On the other hand, the foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks fell by $14 million to $5.454 billion by the week ended February 24, 2023 when compared with $5.468 billion a week ago.
