Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $18 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $11.04 billion as of October 18, data released on Thursday showed.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $16.02 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $4.98 billion.

The central bank did not specify a reason for the increase in reserves.

“During the week ended on 18-Oct-2024, SBP reserves increased by US$ 18 million to US$ 11,040.7 million,” it said.

Last week, SBP foreign exchange reserves increased by $215 million to reach $11.02 billion, a 2.5-year high.

The recent increase in the SBP reserves has come on the back of an inflow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Last month, the central bank received the first tranche of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 760 million, equivalent to $1.03 billion, from the IMF after its Executive Board approved the 37-month, $7-billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.

The Pakistani authorities and the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement on the EFF in the amount equivalent to SDR 5,320 million (or about USD 7 billion) on July 12.