Pakistan’s total liquid foreign reserves reached $16.6 billion as of December 13, 2024, sufficient to cover two and a half months of imports.
Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $31 million to $12.1 billion, while net foreign reserves with commercial banks reached $4.5 billion, the central bank announced.
The country’s reserves have been gradually increasing. SBP’s reserves have surged 28.7% from $9.4 billion on June 28 to $12.1 billion.
Country’s finance minister recently said that by end of the fiscal year fiscal year the reserves will reach around three months of import cover, which is one of the conditions of the IMF to qualify for the upcoming instalment.
The current account is in surplus for the first time in a decade, and inflation is at a 6.5-year low of 4.9%. Additionally, Roshan Digital Account inflows have reached $9 billion.
Pakistan’s Credit Default Swap (CDS) spread, a measure of insurance against credit default risk, has dropped to a low of 5.05%, providing an opportunity to attract inflows.
The country’s risk premium has improved by over 11.89% from a high of 12.38% in November 2022, now lower than that of some emerging and frontier markets.
