KARACHI: Banks purchased a staggering $425 million from exchange companies in June FY24, indicating that the inflows were much higher than last year.

“Our data shows that we sold $425m to banks in June, which is highly encouraging,” said Zafar Paracha, General Secr­etary of the Exchange Comp­anies Association of Paki­stan.

Inflows through banks and exchange companies during the just-outgoing FY24 remained high compared to the previous fiscal year when the remittances declined.

The government rece­ived $27bn in remittances in the first 11 months of FY24, compared to $25.1bn in FY23. How­ever, the inflows were still lower than the $28.5bn received in FY22.

“I believe the exchange companies sold up to $4bn in the interbank market during FY24, which is a great support to the foreign exchange market of Pak­istan,” said Mr Paracha.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s reserves have improved to $9.4bn due to inflows from donor agencies, and ongoing talks with the IMF have had a positive impact on the financial sector.

The sector experts believe another IMF package could bring further exchange rate stability, which was achieved in the second half of FY24.

The positive outlook would attract foreign investment, particularly in the domestic bonds and equity markets.

After 10 years, the PSX attracted a net foreign investment of $140m.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2024