SBP Reserves Back Above $10 Billion After Chinese Loan

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased by a whopping 25.1 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. On June 24, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at 10.309 billion, up $2.071 billion compared to $8.238 on June 17. The massive increase in the reserves, despite external debt repayments, was due to the inflow of proceeds of Chinese Consortium loan amounting to RMB 15 billion (roughly $2.3 billion), the central bank said in a statement. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail had announced that the terms and conditions for refinancing the deposit by Chinese banks had been agreed. Overall, the liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $16.196 billion. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5.887 billion.