By Bilal Ahmed  |  13 November 2026

SBP Reserves Rise to $21.57 Billion — Fourth Straight Weekly Gain as Total Stands at $26.84 Billion

Pakistan’s central bank reserves rose by $11 million to $21.57 billion in the week ended 6 November 2026, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday — the fourth consecutive weekly increase. The country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at $26.84 billion, with commercial banks holding $5.27 billion of the total.

The weekly SBP statement, released on Thursday 12 November, shows the central bank’s steady rebuild of its reserves continuing into November. SBP-held reserves have now risen for four weeks in a row, and are up about $3.2 billion since June 2026. The total figure slipped by $26 million over the same week — not because the central bank lost reserves, but because commercial banks’ holdings fell by $37 million, more than offsetting the SBP’s $11 million gain.

Reserves matter because they are Pakistan’s buffer against external shocks: they pay for imports, service foreign debt and steady the rupee. With the total hovering near $27 billion — a record $26.86 billion was reached just a week earlier, on 30 October — the external position looks stronger than at any point in recent years.

SBP Reserves Up for a Fourth Straight Week

The $11 million weekly rise may look small, but the direction is what counts. According to the SBP’s statement, quoted across the Pakistani press on Thursday, the central bank’s reserves increased by $11 million during the week ended 6 November to $21,572.5 million. It is the fourth week in a row that SBP-held reserves have risen.

The steady climb has been building for months. Topline Securities data shows SBP reserves have increased by approximately $3.20 billion since June 2026, rising from $18.38 billion to $21.57 billion. Go back further and the turnaround is starker: the central bank’s holdings stood at $16.568 billion in February and reached $21.568 billion by 30 October — a rise of about $5 billion in eight months.

Over the past year, the improvement is larger still. Total liquid reserves are up nearly $7.7 billion over twelve months, with the central bank alone adding nearly $7 billion since November 2025.

Why Total Reserves Dipped While the SBP’s Rose

Readers may wonder how total reserves could fall in a week when the central bank’s own reserves rose. The answer lies in the two parts of the total. Pakistan’s liquid foreign exchange reserves have two components: the reserves held by the State Bank itself, and the net reserves held by commercial banks.

In the week ended 6 November, the SBP’s share rose by $11 million to $21,572.5 million. But net reserves held by commercial banks fell by $37 million to $5,266.2 million. The banks’ decline outweighed the central bank’s gain, so the combined total slipped by $26 million to $26,838.7 million, from $26,864.5 million a week earlier.

The distinction matters for how the numbers are read. The SBP’s own reserves — the figure the central bank controls and the one markets watch most closely — are still rising. The commercial-bank component moves with banks’ own foreign-currency deposits and settlements, and it can fall in a week even when the central bank is adding to its stockpile.

Reserves Have Climbed $5 Billion Since February

The broader story is one of repair. A week earlier, the SBP reported that total reserves had reached a record high of $26.864 billion on 30 October, up $110 million on the previous week. The central bank said at the time that reserves had improved by $5 billion since February, despite high oil prices and uncertainty in the region.

Several forces sit behind the rebuild. The central bank expects remittances from overseas Pakistanis to reach a record $44 billion this fiscal year, and steady inflows have been a major support for the external account. The government has also pointed to a narrower fiscal position and improving macroeconomic stability as reasons foreign exchange is accumulating rather than draining away.

For ordinary Pakistanis, the reserves number is not abstract. A stronger reserve position gives the central bank room to keep the rupee stable, helps the country meet import payments and debt obligations on time, and reduces the risk of the kind of foreign-exchange squeeze that has forced emergency measures in the past.

What Happens Next: $23 Billion by December

The central bank is not stopping at $21.57 billion. According to ProPakistani’s reading of the SBP’s outlook, the bank expects its reserves to reach $23 billion by December 2026 and $25 billion by June 2027.

Hitting those targets would put SBP reserves at their highest level in years and give Pakistan its thickest import cover since the current stabilisation programme began. The next weekly statement, due on Thursday 19 November, will show whether the four-week winning streak extends to five.

For now, the message from the latest data is simple: the central bank keeps adding to its reserves, week after week, even as the total figure wobbles with commercial banks’ holdings. At $21.57 billion and rising, the SBP’s stockpile is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

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