KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $70 million to $11.516 billion during the week ended on May 23, the central bank announced on Thursday.
The SBP needs to generate an additional $2.5bn to reach the revised $14bn target by the end of the current fiscal year. However, the currency experts expressed doubt that the SBP could achieve the goal in the last month of FY25.
Pakistan expects to receive $1.4bn in climate funding already approved by the IMF under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) and the financial sector believes that Pakistan has reached a deal with the United Arab Emirates for $1bn.
No official figure is available about the required amount of dollars for debt servicing in the last month of the current fiscal year. Bankers believe the country still requires over $5bn.
According to media reports, China has assured Pakistan of the rollover of another $3.5bn loan. There is no official confirmation. Pakistan’s total foreign exchange rose to $16.636bn, including $5.12bn held by commercial banks.
Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2025