KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will announce monetary policy for next two months on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, a statement said on Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of SBP will meet on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at SBP Karachi to decide about Monetary Policy, the SBP said.
Dr. Reza Baqir, Governor, SBP, will announce the decision of the MPC at a press conference on the same day, the central bank added.
The SBP in its last MPC meeting on November 22, 2019 kept the key policy rate unchanged at 13.25 percent.
The SBP said that the decision to keep the policy rate unchanged reflected the MPC’s view that recent developments have had offsetting implications for the inflation outlook.
On the one hand, recent inflation outturns have been on the higher side.
On the other, the causes behind these outturns have primarily been increases in food prices which are expected to be temporary.
Also market sentiment has begun to gradually improve on the back of sustained improvements in the current account and continued fiscal prudence.
The MPC noted that the SBP’s projection for average inflation for FY20 remained broadly unchanged at 11 – 12 percent and maintaining the current monetary policy stance was appropriate.
In reaching this decision, the MPC considered key developments since the last MPC meeting, developments in the real, external and fiscal sectors, and the resulting outlook for monetary conditions and inflation.
