KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, released data showing that the Pakistan foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank had increased by 0.4% on a week-on-week basis, reaching $4.3 billion.
On March 10, 2023, the SBP’s foreign currency reserves stood at $4,319.1 million, an increase of $18 million from $4,301 million on March 3.
No reason was given by the central bank for foreign exchange reserves rise. The liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, amounted to $9,846.8 million, with net reserves held by banks totaling $5,527.7 million.
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Fahad Rauf, the Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, recently stated that any further improvement in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves would depend on the revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan program and the inflow of fresh financing from other multilateral and bilateral creditors.
He projected that the FX reserves would rise to approximately $7-8 billion by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, 2023.
After a surge in the supply of US dollars compared to demand, the central bank chose to purchase US dollars from the interbank market, leading to the continued improvement of the country’s reserves.
According to a source, the availability of surplus US dollars in the interbank market prompted the central bank to intervene and purchase the surplus.