KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $259 million to $12,329.4 million during the week ending April 30, 2020, according to data released by the central bank on Thursday.
The central bank did not cite a reason for the increase.
Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks increased marginally, from $6,392.7 million to $6,425.7 million.
The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country rose from $18,463.0 million in the week ending April 24, to $18,755.1 million during the week under review.
In the week ending April 24, SBP reserves shot up starkly from $10,889.2 million to $12,070.3 million. This can be mainly attributed to the $1.39 billion received from the IMF under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), to address the economic impact of the Covid-19 shock.
The central bank had previously announced the IMF funds would be part of SBP weekly reserves data as of April 24.
