The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced on Monday that it has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 12 per cent, assessing the current real interest rate to be adequately positive on the forward-looking basis to sustain the ongoing macroeconomic stability. The central bank’s policy rate, after being slashed by 1,000bps from 22pc since June 2024 in six intervals, now stands at 12pc.
The government is immediately halting the use of methyl bromide for the fumigation of rice consignments in Pakistan, enabling the importing countries to carry out the procedure themselves in line with international standards. The decision came at a meeting held by the ministry of national food security and research on Monday to address the issue of interceptions in the export of Pakistani rice
Remittances from overseas Pakistani workers soared by nearly 40 per cent year-on-year in February 2025, reaching $3.12 billion, according to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data released on Monday. Compared to January 2025, remittance inflows increased by 3.8pc, providing much-needed financial support to the economy, government reserves and liquidity for importers. For the first eight months of
Despite some benchmark slippages, better-than-expected smooth talks with the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission for the release of the second tranche of $1.1 billion enthused positive vibes among equity investors about the economic outlook, aiding the benchmark index maintain a bullish performance in the outgoing week. Despite early volatility, the market turned bullish on repor
Iqbal Hussain was among many hoping for significant relief in commodity prices this Ramazan, especially after a sharp decline in the country’s inflation rate. The annual inflation, which soared to a record high of 38 per cent in May 2023, dropped to a near-decade low of 1.5pc in February, according to official data released this week. However, despite the dramatic decline, the prices of esse