https://arab.news/g9xzb
- Thursday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July that brought down the rate from an all-time high of 22% to 17.5%
- Pakistan’s annual consumer price inflation rate slowed to 9.6% in August from a high of nearly 40% in May last year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 17.5% on Thursday, it said in a statement, making it the third straight reduction since June as the country looks to spur growth as inflation eases.
Most respondents in a Reuters poll this week expected a cut of 150 basis points after inflation fell to single digits in August for the first time in nearly three years.
Thursday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June and 100 bps in July that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22% — set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year — to the current 17.5 percent.
Pakistan’s annual consumer price inflation rate slowed to 9.6 percent in August from a high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023.
Economic indicators have stabilized in the South Asian nation since last summer when the country came close to a default before a last-gasp bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
But concerns have risen once again with the global lender’s board yet to approve a staff level agreement struck in June for a new, $7 billion, three-year program.
The government initially said it expected the board approval in August, and later said it was likely in September. The issue is yet to be placed on the IMF board’s agenda.