Pakistan’s central bank has purchased $7.76 billion from the interbank foreign exchange market over the past 12 months to strengthen its reserves and stabilize the rupee, official data shows.
According to figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and cited by Topline Securities, the central bank bought $522 million in May alone, bringing total interventions between June 2024 and May 2025 to nearly $7.8 billion. In April, the SBP had purchased $473 million.
As a result of these interventions, the SBP’s reserves have risen from $9.4 billion in June 2024 to $11.5 billion by May 2025, though officials cautioned that reserves continued to fluctuate in line with debt repayments and inflows.
Pakistan has reported significant improvement in its external accounts, recording a $2.1 billion current account surplus in FY2025, a sharp turnaround supported by an IMF loan programme, robust remittances, falling inflation, reduced interest rates, and relative currency stability.
However, the country slipped back into deficit at the start of FY2026, posting a $254 million shortfall in July compared to a $348 million deficit in the same month last year.
The SBP projects its reserves will increase to $15.5 billion by December 2025 and reach around $17 billion by June 2026.
Pakistan’s external debt obligations remain steep. The SBP estimates repayments of $25.9 billion during FY2026, broadly in line with last year’s burden, including $22 billion in principal and $4 billion in interest.