SBP foreign reserves decline by $72 Million

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reported that its foreign exchange reserves fell by $72 million in the week ending August 1, 2025, bringing the total to $14.23 billion. This drop happened because of external debt repayments.

According to data released on Thursday, commercial banks are currently holding $5.26 billion in foreign reserves, separate from SBP’s holdings.

This latest drop continues a recent trend of ups and downs in SBP’s reserves:

• July 25, 2025: Reserves fell by $153 million to $14.30 billion
• July 18, 2025: Another $69 million drop, down to $14.46 billion
• July 11, 2025: A slight increase of $23 million, reaching $14.53 billion
• July 4, 2025: A sharp rise of $1.77 billion thanks to official inflows, pushing reserves to $14.50 billion
• June 27, 2025: A larger increase of $3.66 billion due to government loans, bringing the total to $12.73 billion

However, before these increases, there was a major drop:

• June 20, 2025: Reserves fell by $2.66 billion to $9.06 billion, mostly due to repaying commercial loans.

Leading up to this period, SBP’s reserves were steadily increasing:

• May 30, 2025: Up by $46 million
• May 23, 2025: Up by $70 million
• May 16, 2025: Jumped by $1.04 billion after receiving a second IMF tranche under the EFF program
• May 9, 2025: Up by $71 million
• May 2, 2025: Increased by $118 million

There were also weeks with minor changes, like a $9 million rise or a $367 million drop due to debt payments.

Earlier in April 2025, SBP’s reserves also fluctuated:

• April 11: Dropped by $127 million
• April 4: Increased by $23 million
• March end: Rose by $70 million, but had dropped $540 million a week before that.

This pattern shows how Pakistan’s reserves are closely tied to incoming foreign loans and outgoing debt repayments.

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