HAVING slashed its key policy rate by yet another 100bps to 12pc, the bigger question for the State Bank now is whether or not it should pause the ongoing monetary easing cycle, which has seen the rate being cut by 1,000bps since June to preserve the recently achieved fragile stability. Though the bank had long stopped providing forward guidance on interest rates, the latest monetary policy sta
Chinese startup DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence (AI) Assistant on Monday overtook rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application available on Apple’s App Store in the United States. Powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model, which its creators say “tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally”, the artificial intelligence application
Saudi Arabia’s market regulator said on Monday it would allow foreign investment in listed companies that own real estate within Islam’s two holiest sites of Makkah and Madina, as the Gulf country looks to attract more investment. The move will allow foreigners to invest in firms whose revenues rely on the Islamic pilgrimage, one of the top revenue sources for the oil-rich kingdom. Saudi Ara
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Monday that it had decided to cut its key policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 12 per cent from 13pc amid demands for a major rate cut. The central bank’s policy rate, after being slashed by 1,000bps from 22pc since June 2024 in six intervals, now stands at 12pc. In a press conference, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed announced that the Monetary Pol
Business leaders vehemently opposed the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) decision to reduce the interest rate by 100 basis points to 12 per cent on Monday, arguing that this meagre cut did not align with the significant downward trend in inflation. Industry representatives had called for a single-digit SBP policy rate before the Monetary Policy Meeting to revive economic activities. They said