SBP forex reserves rise by $9m to $10.21bn

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $9 million to $10.214 billion in the week ended April 25, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a statement on Friday.

However, the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country dropped by $184 million to $15.252 billion. The reserves of commercial banks also fell by $193 million to $5.037 billion.

Analysts said the favourable current account position allowed the SBP to buy dollars from the market, helping boost its foreign exchange reserves and meet external debt repayments. Between June 2024 and January 2025, the SBP purchased $5.6776877 billion from the interbank market.

In March, Pakistan had a record current account surplus of $1.2 billion, attributed to a significant increase in remittances. The country reported a current account surplus of $1.9 billion during the first nine months of the fiscal year 2025, compared with a deficit of $1.7 billion for the same period last year.

In terms of debt repayments, the SBP estimates that the total amount payable for FY25 is $26 billion, of which $16 billion is expected to be rolled over or refinanced. Net repayable debt stands at $10 billion, with $8 billion already paid.

Analysts expect the current account surplus, along with the potential disbursement of $1 billion from the International Monetary Fund under a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and approval of a $1.3 billion new Resilience and Sustainability Facility in the second week of May, would lead to the further buildup of forex reserves and induce much-needed stability in the forex market. A strong current account, together with IMF and commercial inflows, would take foreign exchange reserves to over $14 billion by June.The IMF is scheduled to review the country’s loan programme on May 9.