SBP Reserves Increase by $243 Million Due to IMF Loan Tranche

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose by $243 million on a weekly basis according to data issued by the central bank on Thursday. On January 19, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8.27 billion, up $243 million compared to $8.027 billion on January 12. In a statement, the central bank highlighted that it received the second International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche of $705 million under the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and executed government’s external debt repayments. Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.341 billion, up $196 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.071 billion, registering a decrease of $47 million during the week.