SBP Reserves Decline Slightly to $4.2 Billion

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased slightly on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. On March 31, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $4.208 billion, down $36 million compared to 4.244 billion on March 24. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $9.76 billion, down $56 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.552 billion, registering a decrease of $20 million during the week. According to Arif Habib Limited, the current reserves are enough for an import cover of less than a month. Earlier in the week, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad highlighted that out of $23 billion that had to be repaid within FY23, most payments have either been rolled over or made. He added that $4.5 billion still has to be repaid by the end of June out of which $2.3 billion will be rolled over and $2.2 billion has to be repaid to bilateral and multilateral lenders while only $100 million has to be repaid to commercial lenders.