KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has projected that the country’s foreign exchange reserves will exceed USD 13 billion by June 2025. This is based on the expected improvement in the external account, supported by increased remittances and exports, along with inflows from financial channels.
As of January 31, 2025, the SBP’s reserves stood at USD 11.418 billion, reflecting an increase of USD 46 million from the previous week. The total forex reserves of the country, including those of commercial banks, amounted to USD 16.044 billion, with the commercial banks’ reserves falling by USD 54 million to USD 4.626 billion.
The SBP’s purchase of USD 3.8 billion from the interbank market between June and October 2024 has played a key role in bolstering reserves and managing debt repayments. This move, along with the rise in remittances—up by 33 percent to USD 17.8 billion during the July-December period of FY25—has contributed to stabilizing Pakistan’s foreign exchange position.
The SBP highlighted that while financial inflows were limited in the first half of FY25, they are expected to improve, driven by ongoing debt repayments and anticipated increases in financial inflows. These factors, along with better current account performance, are expected to push reserves beyond USD 13 billion by mid-2025.
Additionally, the central bank projects that the net financial outflows of USD 3.6 billion in the latter half of FY25 will be offset by inflows from commercial banks and bilateral sources, ensuring that the reserves continue their upward trend.
Pakistan’s external debt repayments for FY25 are set at USD 26.1 billion, with USD 6.4 billion already paid, and a remaining net repayable amount of USD 3.6 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.
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