SBP Reserves Increase Again to Climb Over $4 Billion

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased by 13 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. On March 3, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $4.301 billion, up $487 million compared to 3.814 billion on February 24. The reserves held by the central bank have crossed the barrier of $4 billion for the first time in seven weeks. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $9.754 billion, up $486 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.453 billion, registering a decrease of $1 million during the week. According to Arif Habib Limited, the current reserves are enough for an import cover of fewer than 0.90 months (approximately 27 days). It is pertinent to mention here that SBP received $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on March 3. The amount was the first installment of the rollover of a $1.3 billion loan approved by the bank.