KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Gover­nor Jameel Ahmad has stated that there are no import restrictions as foreign exchange reserves have substantially risen.

In his message for the 77th Independence Day celebrations at the SBP, Mr Ahmad mentioned that the situation regarding foreign reserves has improved, with reserves rising to $9.3 billion despite ongoing debt repayments.

“There have been no import restrictions, and IT exports have risen significantly. These improvements bode well for the economy,” said the SBP governor.

However, importers from all sectors of the economy still find it difficult to open letters of credit for imports. They said the SBP has been following a selective import policy, which helped reduce the trade deficit in FY24.

The SBP governor said that inflation had significantly decreased to 11.1 per cent in July, down from 28.3pc in July 2023.

Mr Ahmad highlighted the country’s previous struggles with macroeconomic indicators.

He said the current account deficit, which was $17.48bn in FY22, had been reduced to $3.2bn in FY23 and to $0.68bn in FY24.

He said the remittances being sent by the overseas Pakistani workers have now increased to $30.25bn in FY24 from $27.33bn in FY23.

He said the improvement in macroeconomic indicators is the result of measures taken by both the government and the SBP, leading to a better economic outlook.

“Banks have developed their plans to issue more loans to the agriculture and SME sectors compared to last year to harness the potential in these areas,” he said.

He explained SBP’s efforts to ensure access to financial services for the general public, including initiatives such as the National Financial Inclus­ion Strategy, the National Financial Literacy Prog­ram­me, and Banking on Equality.

“There is a need for adopting new and innovative strategies to resolve perennial economic issues, particularly in the context of digital innovations and emerging cybersecurity threats,” the SBP chief stressed.

Mr Ahmad said the central bank is actively addressing these challenges and urged the banking industry to upgrade their systems to enhance cybersecurity and inform their customers in advance to protect their credentials from potential fraudsters.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024