“The MPC (monetary policy committee) noted that a successful and timely completion of the upcoming IMF-SBA (standby arrangement) review would help unlock other multilateral and bilateral financing,” the State Bank said while announcing the monetary policy. The bank said it would maintain the “tight monetary policy” for now, but signaled the policy rate had peaked out at the current level. The SBP left the policy rate unchanged for the third time in a row in the past four months. Risk factorsThe SBP said that the current policy rate was appropriate to bring inflation down to the medium-term target of 5-7% by the end of FY25. Read more Only monetary rate can 'fix economy'The central bank said it had noted four major developments since its last monetary policy in September 2023.

Source: The Express Tribune October 31, 2023 13:59 UTC