SBP forex reserves rise by $131m to $11.42bn

KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased by $131 million to $11.42 billion in the week ending November 22, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.

The country’s forex reserves rose by $109 million to $16.076 billion. However, the reserves of commercial banks decreased by $22 million to $4.658 billion.The foreign reserves increased as a result of the continuous improvement in the external current account, which was brought about by stronger remittances and a steady rebound in exports.

Moreover, the country received the first tranche from the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Fund Facility programme in late September. The SBP’s dollar buying from the interbank market also contributed to the buildup of the reserves.

Pakistan recorded a current account surplus of $218 million in July-October FY25, compared with a deficit of $1.528 billion in the same period last fiscal year.In October, the current account surplus increased by a significant 306 per cent month-on-month to $349 million, marking the third consecutive month of surplus. In October of last year, the country had a deficit of $287 million.

Overseas Pakistani workers remitted $11.85 billion in the period from July to October FY25, which is a 35 per cent increase compared with a year earlier. In October alone, remittances rose by 24 per cent year-on-year and by 7.0 per cent month-on-month, totalling $3.052 billion.

The government anticipates that worker remittances, imports and exports will all continue their upward trend. The November 2024 monthly economic update and outlook predicts that the exports will remain within a range of $2.5-3 billion, imports $4.5-4.9 billion, and workers’ remittances $ 2.8-3.3 billion in November 2024.