Karachi May 4 2025: Pakistan Central Bank foreign exchange reserves increases for the first time in last three weeks by USD 9 million, according to data released by State Bank of Pakistan on Friday.
“SBP’s FX reserves have more than tripled since bottoming out in February 2023, whereas its forward liabilities have also reduced significantly” states Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Jameel Ahmad.
Mr. Ahmad highlighted that unlike previous episodes of reserve build-up, the ongoing rise in external buffers is not due to any further accumulation of external debt. In fact, Pakistan’s public sector external debt, both in absolute terms and as a percent of GDP, has declined since June 2022.
The Governor emphasized that this improvement reflects SBP’s policy focus on building the economy’s resilience against external shocks, including the ongoing trade-related global uncertainty. He explained that SBP has been able to build these FX buffers through FX purchases amidst a surplus in the external current
account. He also shared that SBP is targeting to increase FX reserves to $14 billion by June 2025.
The central bank, in its weekly statement on liquid foreign reserves position, on Friday reported, “During the week ended on 25-Apr-2025, SBP reserves increased by USUSD 9 million to USUSD 10,214.4 million“.
The breakup of the foreign reserves for the period under review depicted that net foreign reserves held by commercial banks, however, decreased to USD 5,037.4 million.
Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, in the previous week ended on April 18, 2025, were USD 15,436 million.
