FX reserves rise to $14.679bn

KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.517 billion to $14.679 billion during the week ended October 28 on inflows from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the central bank said on Thursday.

The forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan rose by $1.473 billion to $8.912 billion.

“This increase is attributed to the receipt of US$ 1,500 million from ADB,” the SBP said in a statement.

The SBP’s reserves are enough to cover 1.29 months of imports. The reserves of commercial banks also rose by $44 million to $5.766 billion.

The improvement in the foreign reserves is a positive sign for the country’s finances, especially when the government is facing a balance of payments issue. The catastrophic floods that the country experienced over the summer have resulted in losses of at least $30 billion.

Pakistan has signed an agreement with the World Bank amounting to $500 million. The fund will be financed for agricultural transformation project in Punjab for $200 million. The World Bank to finance another project at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for climate change projects amounting to $300 million.