State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is expected to jack up the policy rate by 2 percent at the upcoming meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to meet IMF demand, it emerged on Wednesday.
Earlier, it was reported that the IMF demanded of Pakistan to jack up the interest rate by 4pc. The fund was of the view that inflation is lower in Pakistan as per interest rate.
Islamabad is being “forced” by the IMF to hike interest rates once more by 2 percentage points after the SBP recently increased them by 2 percentage points.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led government is making desperate attempts to secure much-needed funding, but the IMF does not appear to be pleased with the actions made thus far.
It has been learnt that the SBP’s MPC will meet on April 4 to review the interest rate and the demand of IMF. The sources further said the SBP will increase the interest rate by 2pc as was agreed with the IMF.
On March 2, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised the monetary policy rate by 300 basis points to 20per cent.
“This decision reflects deterioration in inflation outlook & its expectations amid recent external and fiscal adjustments. MPC believes this outlook warrants a strong policy response to anchor inflation expectations around the medium-term target of 5-7 percent,” the statement said.
