AGL 38.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-0.18%)
AIRLINK 136.34 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.6%)
BOP 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (3.95%)
CNERGY 4.72 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.64%)
DCL 8.85 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.08%)
DFML 38.34 Decreased By ▼ -1.44 (-3.62%)
DGKC 85.45 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.35%)
FCCL 35.15 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (0.72%)
FFBL 76.21 Increased By ▲ 0.61 (0.81%)
FFL 12.66 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.63%)
HUBC 108.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.75 (-0.69%)
HUMNL 14.73 Increased By ▲ 0.63 (4.47%)
KEL 5.58 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (3.33%)
KOSM 7.96 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.71%)
MLCF 40.78 Decreased By ▼ -0.59 (-1.43%)
NBP 70.94 Increased By ▲ 1.24 (1.78%)
OGDC 195.25 Increased By ▲ 1.63 (0.84%)
PAEL 26.96 Increased By ▲ 0.75 (2.86%)
PIBTL 7.46 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.54%)
PPL 168.02 Increased By ▲ 4.17 (2.55%)
PRL 26.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-0.64%)
PTC 20.34 Increased By ▲ 0.87 (4.47%)
SEARL 92.75 Increased By ▲ 8.35 (9.89%)
TELE 7.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-1.88%)
TOMCL 35.49 Increased By ▲ 1.44 (4.23%)
TPLP 8.91 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (2.18%)
TREET 17.29 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.64%)
TRG 59.27 Decreased By ▼ -1.73 (-2.84%)
UNITY 31.02 Increased By ▲ 2.06 (7.11%)
WTL 1.37 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 10,901 Increased By 125.5 (1.16%)
BR30 32,654 Increased By 420 (1.3%)
KSE100 101,357 Increased By 1274.6 (1.27%)
KSE30 31,488 Increased By 295 (0.95%)

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received $2.75 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the newly-allocated Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the central bank announced on Tuesday.

“SBP has received $2.75 billion from the IMF,” said SBP in a tweet post.

The latest funds would be vital for Pakistan to boost its foreign exchange position that has been a major concern for policymakers that are fighting to find the balance between economic growth and the country's current account position.

Pakistan's current account posted a $773-million deficit during the first month of the current fiscal year (FY22) due to a higher import bill.

Current account posts $773m deficit in July

Before taking into account the SDR allocation, the country's current stock of foreign currency reserves stood at $24.67 billion as on August 13, the latest data available. Of this amount, $17.63 billion are with the SBP, while $7.04 billion are with commercial banks.

SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir had announced earlier that the IMF's SDR allocation would help take reserves to a historic high, adding that this time Pakistan's net international reserves position would improve as well.

Pakistan's net international reserves set to increase: SBP governor

The inflows come after the IMF board of governors in early August approved increasing the institution's lending capacity by $650 billion, the last step in approving an initiative to boost aid to the most vulnerable countries.

The program had already been approved by the IMF's executive board in mid-July.

About $275 billion (about SDR 193 billion) of the new allocation will go to emerging markets and developing countries, including low-income countries.

What are SDRs

Created in 1969, SDRs are not a currency and have no material existence.

Their value is based on a basket of five major international currencies: the dollar, the euro, the pound, the renminbi or yuan, and the yen.

Once issued, SDRs can be used either as a reserve currency that stabilizes the value of a country's domestic currency or converted into stronger currencies to finance investments.

For poorer countries, the interest is also to obtain hard currencies without having to pay substantial interest rates.

Comments

Comments are closed.