SBP Reserves Climb for a Third Straight Week
Pakistan foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan rose by $39 million to $21.56 billion in the week ended 30 October 2026, the central bank said on Thursday, extending a steady climb that has now run for three consecutive weeks. The latest figures, released by the State Bank on 5 November, put the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves at $26.87 billion, up $110 million over the week.
Reserves held by commercial banks also moved higher, rising by $71 million to $5.30 billion. The increase may look modest in isolation, but it caps a run of gains that has added more than $3 billion to the central bank’s holdings since June. For an economy that spent much of 2022 and 2023 counting its reserves in weeks of import cover rather than months, the direction of travel matters as much as the size of any single weekly move.
The State Bank has been buying dollars from the interbank market to build its buffer while meeting external debt repayments. It bought $863 million in July alone, taking its market purchases over the twelve months from August 2025 to July 2026 to $8.78 billion. The strategy has lifted Pakistan foreign exchange reserves from $18.38 billion at the end of June to $21.56 billion at the end of October, a gain of $3.18 billion in four months.
Import Cover Reaches 3.93 Months
Import cover — the yardstick economists use to judge whether Pakistan foreign exchange reserves are adequate — edged up to 3.93 months, from 3.92 months a week earlier. International practice treats roughly three months of import cover as the minimum safety standard, so Pakistan now sits comfortably above that line for the first time in years.
The improvement is not only about the headline number. Total liquid reserves, which combine the State Bank’s holdings with those of commercial banks, have grown by $3.63 billion since June, from $23.23 billion to $26.86 billion. That broader cushion gives the authorities more room to absorb shocks, whether from energy prices, debt repayments or a sudden shift in global risk appetite.
Governor Jameel Ahmad has said the central bank aims to lift its own reserves to about $23 billion by the end of December 2026 and to $25 billion by June 2027. The targets were set out after the Monetary Policy Committee raised the policy rate by 50 basis points to 12 percent, a move the bank linked to a deteriorating inflation outlook as oil prices climbed. If the current pace holds, the December milestone looks within reach.
Saudi Rollover and the IMF Programme Underpin the Gains
The reserves picture has been helped by two developments in the past fortnight. On 4 November, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb confirmed that Saudi Arabia had rolled over its $3 billion deposit with Pakistan, a sum that sits inside the State Bank’s reserves. Repaying it now would have cut the central bank’s holdings by about 14 percent at a stroke, so the rollover removes a near-term threat to the buffer.
The second support is the International Monetary Fund programme. Pakistan and the Fund reached a staff-level agreement on 7 October on the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The agreement could unlock around $1.2 billion in financing, subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, which the finance minister has said may meet in December.
September had already delivered a milestone of its own: reserves touched an all-time high of $21.4 billion after Pakistan received the proceeds of a $3 billion Eurobond, passing the previous peak of $20.1 billion set in August 2021. The latest reading of $21.56 billion extends that record, and the steady weekly gains since then suggest the peak is being consolidated rather than simply touched and lost.
What the Reserves Mean for Households and Businesses
For ordinary households, the level of Pakistan foreign exchange reserves shows up in ways that are easy to miss but hard to escape. When reserves are thin, the rupee comes under pressure, imported fuel and food become dearer, and the central bank is forced into abrupt interest-rate rises. A thicker buffer steadies the currency, eases pressure on inflation and gives the State Bank room to cut rates when the economy needs support.
Businesses feel the difference through the availability of dollars for imports. In the lean years, importers faced delays in opening letters of credit and settling payments for raw materials and machinery. With reserves above $21 billion and import cover nearing four months, those frictions have eased, although the central bank continues to manage its purchases carefully so that building reserves does not itself weaken the rupee.
There are still risks. Global oil prices remain volatile, external debt repayments fall due through the year, and the Fund’s board approval for the next tranche is not yet in hand. The reserves position is stronger than it has been in years, but it has been rebuilt patiently rather than borrowed into place, and keeping it that way will depend on export earnings, remittances and continued discipline on imports.
For now, the numbers point in the right direction for Pakistan foreign exchange reserves. Three weekly rises in a row, a record headline figure, import cover approaching four months and a clear path to the central bank’s December target together make this the strongest reserves position Pakistan has held since the current crisis began. The next weekly release, due on Thursday, will show whether the run can be stretched to four.
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