Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves received a modest boost as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a week-on-week increase of $56.4 million, reaching $7.7 billion by September 15, 2023.
The nation's total reserves also witnessed a positive trend, growing by $107.5 million or 0.82% during the same period, reaching $13.19 billion.
Commercial banks contributed to this rise, with their reserves increasing by $51.1 million or 0.94%, reaching a total of $5.49 billion.
The recent improvement in Pakistan's foreign reserves can be traced back to key agreements made earlier this year. In June, Pakistan reached a significant agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which led to a disbursement of $1.2 billion.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates extended generous loans totaling $3 billion. These financial injections brought Pakistan's foreign reserves to a substantial $14.07 billion.
As a result of these developments, the current fiscal year has witnessed an impressive increase in total liquid foreign reserves, surging by $4.01 billion or 43.62%.
However, despite the initial influx of funds from the IMF and Arab countries, recent data suggests that fresh inflows have been tapering off, leading to a gradual depletion of reserves almost every week.
Observers are closely monitoring this trend, as the country strives to maintain financial stability in the face of various economic challenges.
In contrast, the current calendar year has shown a notable increase of $2.34 billion or 21.59% in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves, providing some optimism for the country's economic outlook.
