KARACHI: The country’s liquid foreign exchange reserves rose by $100 million during the last week.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) weekly report issued on Thursday, the total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country stood at $ 12.206 billion as of Dec 8, 2023 compared to $ 12.107 billion on Dec 1, 2023.

During the week under review, SBP’s reserves increased by $21 million to $ 7.041 billion up from $ 7.02 billion a week earlier. Net foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also surged by $79 million to $5.166 billion at the end of last week.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves are likely to increase in coming months as the Pakistan and IMF have reached a staff-level agreement on November 15 after the first review under Pakistan’s Stand By Agreement (SBA). However, it is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board. Upon approval, Pakistan will get inflows amounting to $700 million.

The IMF’s SBA $ 3 billion to be concluded in the second week of April 2024 and so far $ 1.2 billion have been released in July this year, while remaining disbursement under the programme is about $1.8 billion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023