Pakistan: Sukuk Receipt Pushes Dollar Reserves Up To $14b

Pakistan’s much-needed foreign exchange reserves have risen to $ 14 billion during the last week.

The central bank Thursday reported to have counted the country’s dollar reserves in excess of $13.92 billion up to December 5. If the International Monetary Fund releases its widely expected fifth tranche of over a billion dollars by the end of this month, the country’s forex reserves would swell beyond $ 15 billion, as was claimed by Finance Minister Ishaque Dar. During the week under review, the SBP’s liquid foreign exchange reserves increased to $9.203 billion showing a growth of $ 981 million compared to $8.222 billion the bank held in the previous week.

This increase, the central bank attributed to a receipt of $ 1 billion against the issuance of Pakistan Sukuk Bonds. At least $ 41 million came from multilateral, bilateral and other sources, the bank said. “During the week, SBP made payments of $83 million on account of external debt servicing and other official payments,” it said. The reserves of banks other than State Bank stood at $ 4.71 billion.

Originally published on www.pakistantoday.com.pk