Islamabad: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by USD 22 million to USD 14.525 billion during the week ending November 7, the central bank reported on Thursday.
The country’s total liquid foreign reserves also rose by USD 60 million to USD 19.724 billion, while the reserves of commercial banks increased by USD 39 million to USD 5.199 billion. Analysts said the growth in reserves has been supported by strong remittance inflows and the SBP’s purchases of dollars from the market, despite ongoing pressures from rising imports.
Remittances to Pakistan reached USD 3.4 billion in October, up 11.9 percent from a year earlier. During the first four months of the fiscal year 2026, cash sent home by Pakistanis abroad rose 9.3 percent to USD 12.96 billion from USD 11.9 billion in the same period last year. Experts expect remittances to exceed USD 41 billion in FY26, providing support to the current account balance amid a growing trade deficit.
The increase in reserves comes ahead of Pakistan’s expected receipt of USD 1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on December 9, following approval by the IMF Executive Board of two concurrent programmes—the USD 7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the USD 1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Fund (RSF).
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