January's Official Reserve Assets Stand at $13.53 Billion

As of January 2024, the official reserve assets, encompassing foreign currency reserves, reserve position in funds, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), gold, and other reserve assets, total $13.53 billion. This figure reflects a slight decrease from the previous month's $13.67 billion.

According to the latest monthly report released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday, the foreign currency reserves, comprising securities, currency, and deposits held with other central banks and banks in Pakistan and abroad, are reported at $5.03 billion.

Gold reserves, inclusive of gold deposits and swapped gold, have experienced a dip to $4.27 billion, down from $4.32 billion in the prior month.

Meanwhile, other reserve assets for the country have been recorded at $3.7 billion, a decrease from the $4.39 billion reported a month earlier.

The detailed data reveals that Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) have increased to $531.43 million, compared to $112.12 million the previous month. This uptick is attributed to the second installment of SDR 528 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It's important to note that SDRs, being an international reserve asset, do not function as a currency. Instead, their value is based on a basket of five currencies: the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling.

Furthermore, the reserve position in funds, representing Pakistan’s quota in the IMF, remains unchanged at $0.16 million, mirroring the figures from the preceding month.