Central bank forex reserves fall by $7m to $11.51bn

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves decreased by $7 million to $11.509 billion in the week ending May 30, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday.

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country also reduced by $39 million to $16.598 billion. Similarly, the reserves of commercial banks fell by $32 million to $5.089 billion.The SBP’s reserves experienced a slight weekly decline; nonetheless, they remain steady overall due to a current account surplus, despite external debt repayments. Additionally, inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), rollovers from friendly nations, and the SBP’s dollar buying from the market played a crucial role in bolstering forex reserves.

The SBP received the second tranche of $1.023 billion from the IMF on May 13 under the $7 billion loan programme.The SBP purchased $5.9 billion from the interbank market between June 2024 and February 2025 to boost its reserves and meet external debt repayments. In February, the SBP bought $223 million worth of foreign currency from the market, up from $154 million in the previous month. However, to meet the revised $14 billion FX reserves target by the end of the current fiscal year, the central bank needs to generate an additional $2.5 billion. Pakistan expects to receive $1.4 billion in climate funding already approved by the IMF under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility.