Foreign exchange reserves in the country witnessed an increase of $19 million in the week ending on February 19 as net reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stood at $12,908 million, according to the central bank.
According to the data released by SBP on Thursday, overall liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $ 20.041 billion as of February 19. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,132 million.
Total liquid foreign #reserves held by the country stood at US$ 20.04 billion as of February 19, 2021. For details: https://t.co/WpSgomENV3 pic.twitter.com/osEI2IJSVl
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) February 25, 2021
Earlier on Monday, the central bank said that Pakistan’s current account deficit was recorded at $229 million in January 2021 compared to a deficit of $652 million in December 2020.
In a series of tweets on Monday, the central bank said that current account during July–January FY21 still showed a surplus of $912 million compared to a deficit of $2,544 million in the corresponding period of the last year.
The SBP mentioned that the country had witnessed a deficit of $512 million in January 2020.
“Compared to Jan 2020, exports grew steadily while remittances continued their record expansion. Imports of wheat and sugar to address domestic shortages, along with palm oil, were significantly higher. Machinery imports continued to grow at double-digits, reflecting economic recovery,” tweeted the central bank.
