Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmad announced a significant economic turnaround, stating that foreign exchange reserves have risen from $3 billion to $17 billion and that remittances are expected to exceed $41 billion. During a visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce, he highlighted improvements in average monthly imports, which have increased from nearly $3 billion to over $5 billion.
He attributed this recovery to State Bank reforms and actions against hundi and hawala. The current account also remains in surplus for the first nine months of FY26, with GDP growth projected between 3.75% and 4.75%. However, inflation could rise above 7% in the last quarter.
Ahmad emphasized the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for future growth, revealing that SME financing surged from Rs491 billion to Rs882 billion. He mentioned ongoing challenges in export performance due to global commodity price declines and projected exports of around $30 billion this year, down from $32 billion last year.
He confirmed that the designs for new currency notes were finalized and addressed concerns about exchange rates being determined by market forces. Business leaders stressed the need for a comprehensive government strategy to boost exports and reduce high energy tariffs that strain industries.
President KCCI Rehan Hanif, in his welcome address, stated that Pakistan’s economy was passing through an extremely difficult phase three years ago when foreign exchange reserves had declined sharply, Letters of Credit (LCs) were not being opened, and fears of sovereign default were echoing across the country.
He said that during that challenging period, the manner in which the State Bank of Pakistan demonstrated resilience and maintained economic stability was highly commendable.
