State Bank of Pakistan Keeps Benchmark Interest Rate Unchanged at 11.5 Percent in New Monetary Policy
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has officially announced the second monetary policy decision of the current fiscal year, where it has kept the base rate unchanged at 11.5 per cent.
After a comprehensive review of domestic and foreign economic indicators, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided on fixing interest rates unchanged.
The importance of strategic timing in the context of IMF reviews and the pressures from the international community.
The interest rate must be kept at the current level, which is crucial before the next economic review session with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), central bank officials said.
Unresolved geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and the continuous increases in crude oil prices in the international commodity markets are putting new inflationary pressures on the domestic economy,” the central bank said. Keeping these macroeconomic factors and inflation drivers in view, the policy rate has been stabilized at 11.5 percent.