KARACHI
\nThe State Bank of Pakistan\u2019s (SBP) reserves increased by $5.12 billion to $14.51 billion as of June 30 at the end of Fiscal Year 2024-25 (FY25), The News reported on Thursday. The figure exceeds the $13.9 billion target set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
\nThe SBP\u2019s reserves stood at $9.39 billion on June 30 last year and the increase reflects a noticeable improvement in the country\u2019s current account balance and realisation of planned inflows during the year, the SBP said in the statement.
\nThe central bank did not provide a reason for the significant increase in reserves of more than $5 billion in the fiscal year 2025. But according to the statement released last week, it received commercial loans of $3.10 billion and multilateral loans totalling over $500 million.
\nThe SBP\u2019s reserves had fallen by $2.66 billion as of June 20, the second biggest weekly drop on record, due to external debt repayments.
\nAccording to media reports, China rolled over $3.4 billion in loans to Pakistan over the weekend, helping to increase the nation\u2019s forex reserves, which the IMF requires. Beijing refinanced a $1.3 billion commercial loan that Islamabad had repaid two months prior, and it also rolled over $2.1 billion that had been in the SBP\u2019s reserves for the previous three years.
\n\u201cWith this level of SBP\u2019s reserves, the country has met the IMF condition set for the central bank reserves above $13.9 billion set for June 30, 2025. This is the highest weekly increase,\u201d said Awais Ashraf, the director of research at AKD Securities Limited.The SBP\u2019s reserves are enough to cover 2.5 months of imports, Ashraf said.\u201dWe expect reserves to surpass $17 billion by June 2026 due to strong remittances and a reduction in interest payments,\u201d he added.
\nTwo years ago, Pakistan\u2019s foreign exchange reserves fell to extremely low levels, providing less than a month\u2019s worth of import cover.
\nThe government obtained a $3 billion short-term IMF bailout in response to the prospect of a sovereign debt default. In addition, the government restricted imports and permitted more exchange rate flexibility.
\nThe rise in forex reserves reflects improved external account management, higher remittances, better exports, and disciplined policy actions under the IMF\u2019s guidance, Mohammad Sohail, the CEO of Topline Securities, wrote on X. The SBP bolstered its reserves by purchasing dollars from the market. Between June 2024 and March 2025, it bought $6.8 billion from the interbank market, indicating the availability of foreign exchange in the system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI The State Bank of Pakistan\u2019s (SBP) reserves increased by $5.12 billion to $14.51 billion as of June 30 at the end of Fiscal Year 2024-25 (FY25), The News reported on Thursday. The figure exceeds the $13.9 billion target set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SBP\u2019s reserves stood at $9.39 billion on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-488233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n