SBP's Forex Reserves Rise to $17.04 Billion as Governor Says Bank Bought $9 Billion Last Year

The State Bank of Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves rose $13 million to $17.04 billion for the week ended 31 July, according to SBP data — a modest weekly gain that keeps reserves broadly stable heading into the new fiscal year.

The full reserves picture

Pakistan's total liquid foreign currency reserves stood at $22.47 billion at the end of July, combining the SBP's $17.04 billion with commercial banks' net foreign currency deposits of $5.43 billion. Current SBP holdings provide roughly 2.51 months of import cover — a commonly watched benchmark for external payment resilience.

The Governor's comment on how reserves were built

SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad said the central bank bought around $9 billion from the open market during the last fiscal year specifically to cushion foreign exchange reserves, with the interbank currency market serving as the primary channel for those inflows. That scale of open-market buying is a significant, deliberate reserve-building effort rather than a passive accumulation.

Why reserve levels matter beyond the headline number

Higher, more stable reserves give the SBP greater capacity to manage currency volatility and meet external payment obligations without resorting to emergency measures — a factor that feeds directly into investor and creditor confidence in Pakistan's macroeconomic stability, independent of any single week's exchange rate movement.