Tag: foreign exchange reserves

  • Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $115 million

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $115 million

    Pakistan’s liquid foreign reserves were depleted by $115 million in the week ending April 30, 2022, a 0.7 per cent drop from the previous week.

    According to the SBP weekly report unveiled on Friday, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves declined by $115 million (-0.7 per cent) to $16.553 billion on April 30, 2022, from $16.668 billion the previous week.

    Due to external debt payments, the SBP reserves fell by $59 million to $10.499 billion (-0.6 per cent) from $10.558 billion a week earlier.

    Read more: Dr Murtaza Syed assumes charge as the new Governor State Bank of Pakistan

    Furthermore, commercial banks’ net foreign reserves stood at $6.05 billion, down $56 million (-0.9 per cent) on a weekly basis.

  • Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves down by $328 million

    Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves down by $328 million

    State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on April 28, revealed that the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves fell by 3 per cent on a weekly basis.

    The central bank’s foreign currency reserves were $10,558.2 million on April 23, a $328 million decrease from the previous day’s total of $10,885.7 million. according to the SBP, this decline was caused by external debt and other payments.

    Pakistan’s total liquid foreign currency reserves, comprising net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, were $16,668.2 million. Banks held a total of $6,110 million in net reserves.

    SBP’s foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $20.15 billion in the week ending August 27, 2021, after Pakistan received a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2,751.8 million from the IMF on August 24.

    Pakistan bought $2.5 billion using Eurobonds on March 30, 2021, by offering attractive interest rates to lenders in order to enhance foreign exchange reserves.

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    On July 9, 2019, it received the first loan amount of $991.4 million from the IMF, which helped to boost reserves. The IMF released the second loan tranche of approximately $454 million in late December 2019.

  • ‘Third-best currency’: Rupee continues to gain ground against US Dollar

    ‘Third-best currency’: Rupee continues to gain ground against US Dollar

    Since October, the Pakistani Rupee has continued to gain ground against the US Dollar, becoming the third best-performing currency of the Asian continent.

    After a month-long depreciation against the rupee, the US dollar is being sold at 158.69 in the interbank market as of Nov 10. Only South Korean and Indonesian currencies have performed better than the PKR that has seen 3.1% appreciation over the past four weeks.

    Pakistani Rupee against US Dollar. Xe.com

    Following a deal with the International Monetary Foundation (IMF) by the Imran-led government in May 2019, the PKR had taken a nosedive against USD. It was being sold at 110 in April 2018, and by July 2020, 1USD was equivalent to PKR169. However, since Aug, the dollar has been shedding weight against the PKR and other foreign currencies.

    Money dealers in the market attributed this rally of rupee against the US dollar to encouraging economic indicators as well as the global downfall of the greenback. On the other hand, importers are also being careful in buying goods from their foreign suppliers owing to the second wave of coronavirus, they claimed.

    Forex Association of Pakistan President Malik Bostan quoted by a local media outlet said the dollar will likely to depreciate further amid an increase in exports. He sounded hopeful of the PKR’s appreciation against the USD, saying the strong economic outlook of Pakistan will help boost its foreign exchange reserves.

    He said that Pakistan’s reliance on the dollar may also reduce — that would result in a stronger PKR, as China and Pakistan are now looking to trade in Yuan, the Chinese currency. Pakistan’s biggest import bills come from China.