The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank increased marginally on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On March 10, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $4.319 billion, up $18 million compared to 4.301 billion on March 3.
Liquid Foreign Exchange Reserves: 10-Mar-2023
Total: $ 9.8bn, up by $ 93mn
SBP: $ 4.3bn, up by $ 18mn
Banks: $ 5.5bn, up by $ 75mn
Import cover: 0.90 months
@StateBank_Pak #SBP #FXReserves #Pakistan #Economy #AHL pic.twitter.com/TRiYPTc0OB— Arif Habib Limited (@ArifHabibLtd) March 16, 2023
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $9.847 billion, up $93 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.528 billion, registering an increase of $75 million during the week.
According to Arif Habib Limited, the current reserves are enough for an import cover of less than one month (approximately 27 days).
It is pertinent to mention here that SBP received $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on March 3 which pushed the reserves over $4 billion. Pakistan is set to get the second installment of $500 from the Chinese bank in the coming days which will boost the country’s reserves.
