Forex reserves jumps to $ 16.77bn; State Bank of Pakistan

Forex reserves jumps to $ 16.77bn; State Bank of Pakistan

Islamabad: (Thursday, December 29, 2011) at a time when good news about country’s economy has become least expected, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed today that in the week ending on Dec 23, country’s foreign exchange
reserves, which stood at $ 16.66bn in the previous week, have gone up to $ 16.77 bn.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $12.81 billion, compared with $12.76 billion the previous week, while those held by commercial banks rose to $3.96 billion, compared with $3.90 billion the previous week.

Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in the week ending July 30, but have since eased due to debt repayments.

Reserves were boosted in June by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank, and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Higher export proceeds and a record inflow of remittances have also helped support Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

According to official data, remittances rose 18.33 percent to $5.24 billion in the first five months of the fiscal year (July-June), compared with $4.43 billion in the same period a year earlier.

However, they fell slightly to $923 million in November, compared with $926.89 million received in November last year.

Islamabad must start repaying an $8 billion International Monetary Fund loan in early 2012 and without additional sources of revenue, that will put further pressure on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

In a bid to have additional revenues to have a budgetary cushion for repaying the debts, the government has decided to raise the POL prices significantly. This will be followed by another sharp increase in electricity and gas prices.

While the economic mess Pakistan suffers from today is attributed to the corrupt and inept financial and economic managers of the country, these are the ordinary citizens who are to share burden of the brunt.

Nevertheless, at a time when forex reserves were expected to experience a hard blow amidst debt repayment, a significant increase in them has come forward as a good omen for the country.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=7710

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Dec 29 2011. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry