KARACHI: 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 ofimports.

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.

Moreover, the dollar closed at Rs260.93 against the rupee in the inter-bank market on Thursday.