Pakistan to Repay $1 Billion Bond on Dec 2: SBP Governor

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Friday that Pakistan will repay a $1 billion International Sukuk bond three days before its due date of December 5, 2022 According to Arif Habib Limited, the central bank governor told a briefing that payment against Pakistan’s International Sukuk will be made on December 2. The governor said that the repayment amount is around $1.08 billion which includes both the principal as well as interest. He further highlighted that funding against this repayment has been arranged. Addressing the external funding concerns, the governor said that Pakistan is expecting external inflows from multilateral, bilateral, and other sources. He said that Pakistan is likely to receive $500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is likely to be received on November 29. Commenting on the expected reserves position by the end of the current fiscal year (FY23), he said that it will remain largely dependent on the planned inflows, outflows, and rollovers. However, he said that the reserves would be much higher than the current level. It is pertinent to mention here that the central bank reserves currently stand at $7.825 billion. The central bank reserves have fallen by nearly $2 billion in the current fiscal year (FY23), while the decrease in reserves for the current calendar year stands at nearly $10 billion.