Pakistani banks ‘swimming in money’ as deposits up by Rs394b

It is pertinent to mention here that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves were recorded at Rs16,417.3 million during the week ending on June 11, showing an increase of $4 million or 0.01%.

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $23,586.5 million while net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,169.2 million.

According to the details, a statement issued by the State Bank of Pakistan said that bank deposits increased by Rs394 billion in May 2021 as compared to Rs17,561 in April 2021 and reached a record level of Rs17,955 billion this year.

The SBP said that bank deposits have increased by Rs870 billion in the first five months of the current financial year, while the bank deposits increased from Rs17,085 billion in January this year to more than Rs17,955 billion in May 2021.

In August 2020, the total deposits held by commercial banks stood at an all-time high at Rs16.32 trillion, depicting a growth of 17% YoY and 1.3% MoM.

It may be recalled that in December 2020, bank deposits were at a record level of Rs17,876 billion, but in January 2021, bank deposits fell from a record level to Rs17,086 billion.

Economic experts said that despite the coronavirus epidemic, the economy is improving on the back of rising demand, business activity has also improved on the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic, with deposits due to financial closure of banks in December 2020.

The central bank gave no reason for the increase in reserves.