The State Bank of Pakistan has announced a new monetary policy, according to which the interest rate has been reduced by one percent.
State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmed while holding a news conference said that the interest rate has come down from 20.5% to 19.5% after a reduction of 100 basis points.
On this occasion, the Governor State said that the monthly inflation rate has reached 12.6% in June 2024, while the current account deficit is at 329 million dollars.
He said that the country’s economy is on the way to improvement, after three months in September, the new monetary policy will be announced.
He said that the inflation is gradually decreasing in the country, imports have been completely opened, all external debts are being paid on time.
It should be remembered that on June 10, the State Bank had announced a reduction in the interest rate after 4 years by reducing it to 1.5%. On April 29, the State Bank once again announced to maintain the interest rate at 22 percent.
The Monetary Policy Committee, in its statement, said that continuation of the current monetary policy with significant positive real interest rates is necessary to reduce inflation to the target of 5-7 percent by September 2025.
On March 18, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan decided to maintain the policy rate (interest rate) at 22 percent for the sixth consecutive time. On January 29, the State Bank announced the new monetary policy for the next two months, keeping interest rates at 22 percent for the fifth consecutive time. On December 12, the State Bank had also decided to maintain the interest rate at 22 percent. On September 14, the State Bank had announced to keep the interest rate constant at 22 percent.
This continuation of holding interest rates was maintained on July 30 and June 26, 2023 when the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised the policy rate by 100 basis points to 22 percent in an emergency meeting.
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2024-07-30 19:58:10
