KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday apprised that its foreign reserves increased by $16 million.
According to the SBP, after the uptick of $16 million, its reserves climbed to $14.47 billion, up from $14.45 billion.
On the other hand, commercial banks’ reserves declined by $182.3 million, which resulted in the reserves reducing to 5.21 billion dollars from 5.39 billion dollars.
The decrease in the commercial banks’ reserves resulted in a decline in the country’s overall reserves by 165.9 million dollars.
The country’s total reserves now stood at $19.69 billion, declining from $19.85 billion.
Last week, the SBP’s reserves had risen by $14 million.
Earlier, on October 27, the SBP announced to keep the interest rate unchanged at 11 per cent.
“The interest rate has been kept unchanged in view of the existing inflation levels and recent floods in the country”, the central bank said in a statement.
The Monetary Policy Committee meeting, chaired by Governor Jameel Ahmad, conducted a detailed review of domestic and global economic conditions, inflation trends, and growth indicators.
Earlier, experts believed that in view of the current inflation levels and overall economic situation, the interest rate is likely to remain unchanged at 11 per cent.
As per the SBP’s report, monthly inflation in September 2025 stood at 5.6 per cent, while the current account recorded a surplus of $110 million during the same month.
In the last monetary policy announced on September 15, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the policy rate unchanged at 11bps.
“The Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 11 per cent in its meeting held on September 15, 2025,” the SBP said on its website, adding that a detailed statement will be released shortly.
Experts were of the view that despite stable inflation, the economic challenges triggered by the floods leave little room for a rate cut.
