Pakistan central bank says FX reserves rise by $66 million to $3.258 billion

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose by $66 million to $3.258 billion in the week ending Feb. 17, it said on Thursday, while its total liquid foreign reserves stood at $8.726 billion.

Pakistan, which is a $350 billion economy, is facing economic turmoil, with a balance of payment crisis and only enough foreign exchange reserves to cover three weeks of imports.

Islamabad is expecting external financing inflows after a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is finalised, something that is likely this month.

If the IMF deal is done and approved by its board, that will issue a $1 billion funding that will also unlock other bilateral and multilateral inflows.

China approved the refinancing of $700 million on Wednesday, the Pakistani finance ministry said. The money had been expected to be credited to the central bank’s reserves this week.

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid; Writing by Asif Shahzad; editing by John Stonestreet and Alexander Smith)