LAHORE MIRROR — The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 21 per cent for the next two months, according to a press release issued on Monday.
The announcement came after a meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
“The MPC assessed inflation is more likely to have peaked in May 2023. Weak domestic demand; ease in inflation expectations of consumers and businesses; downward trend in global commodity prices; and high base effect, are the major determining factors behind this assessment,” the central bank’s statement said.
1/3 At its meeting today, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of #SBP decided to maintain the policy rate at 21%.https://t.co/mjQgHmMd3B#SBPMonetaryPolicy pic.twitter.com/4GX5J8AahI
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) June 12, 2023
It stated that the MPC expected the domestic demand to “remain subdued amid tight stance, domestic uncertainty and continuing stress on external account”.
“In this backdrop, and given the declining m/m trend, the MPC views inflation to have peaked at 38pc in May 2023, and barring any unforeseen developments, expects it to start falling from June onwards,” it stated.
