The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has purchased $7.76 billion from the foreign exchange market since June 2024 to boost the country’s reserves.Â
Topline Securities reported that the SBP acquired $522 million from the interbank market in May 2025, bringing the total interventions over the past 12 months, from June 2024 to May 2025, to $7.76 billion. In April, SBP’s interventions were recorded at $473 million.
Pakistan’s reserves increased from $9.4 billion in June 2024 to $11.5 billion in May 2025, despite fluctuations caused by external repayments and inflows. Significant support from multilateral sources was observed in September and November 2024, as well as in May 2025, while early 2025 saw declines due to repayment pressures.
SBP continued intervention in the forex market, sometimes exceeding $1 billion, to stabilise the exchange rate and maintain reserves above $10 billion, providing a cushion against volatility.
Pakistan’s macroeconomic position has improved, with a current account surplus of $2.1 billion recorded for fiscal year 2025. Contributing factors include support from the IMF loan programme, strong remittances, lower inflation, reduced interest rates, and a stable currency.
For the first month of the 2025-26 fiscal year, the country posted a current account deficit of $254 million, compared with a $348 million deficit during the same period last year. SBP expects reserves to reach $15.5 billion by December 2025 and approximately $17 billion by June 2026.
The central bank projects external debt repayments for FY26 at $25.9 billion, including $22 billion in principal and $4 billion in interest, similar to FY25. Around $16 billion of this debt is expected to be rolled over, leaving $10 billion for repayment, comprising $6 billion in principal and $4 billion in interest.
