Daily Times

The State Bank of Pakistan will announce monetary policy for the next two months on today. According to a press statement issued by SBP spokesperson, the Monetary Policy Committee of SBP would meet on Tuesday at Karachi and consider key trends and prospects in the real, external and fiscal sectors, and the resulting outlook for monetary conditions and inflation.

Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Reza Baqir, would announce the monetary policy decisions in a press conference on the same day following the MPC meeting. The Monetary Policy Committee, in its previous meeting on May 28, 2021, decided to maintain the policy rate at seven percent on the basis of further upward revision in the FY21 growth forecast to 3.94 percent and strength of the broad-based economic rebound on the back of targeted fiscal measures and aggressive monetary stimulus.

The MPC also expected that the positive momentum would persist and be translated into higher growth next year. The MPC while considering the significantly accommodative stance of monetary policy as appropriate for ensuring firmly entrenched and self-sustaining recovery noted that it was important for monetary policy to remain supportive given the renewed heightened uncertainty created by the third wave of Covid in Pakistan and the expected fiscal consolidation. The MPC also indicated that monetary policy would remain accommodative in the near term, and any adjustments in the policy rate to be measured and gradual to achieve mildly positive real interest rates over time.