KARACHI, Aug 12: The State Bank on Friday launched the first ever SBP Research Bulletin which contains research articles on important economic issues. The SBP says in a press release that initially it plans to bring out this journal once a year. But after 2006 the journal will be published twice a year, and in 2009 it would become a quarterly publication.

The bulletin is edited by Dr. Omar Farooq, a senior analyst with SBP’s research department.

The bulletin contains three main articles. These are the working papers written by senior SBP officials and are already available on the SBP website. These are: (i) transmission mechanism of monetary policy in Pakistan (ii) detection and forecasting of Islamic calendar effects in time series data; and (iii) inflation and growth: an estimate of the threshold level of inflation in Pakistan.

Apart from articles section, there is also an opinion section in the bulletin. In this section there are two write-ups, both dealing with current economic issues. The first is titled trade between India and Pakistan: potential items and the MFN status; the other is headlined rebasing of national income accounts in Pakistan. Both are written by the SBP officials.

A third section of the SBP bulletin is dedicated to books review.

SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Husain says in the inaugural issue of the bulletin that the broader objective of it “is to enhance the scientific standards” of the SBP.”

“Like any other scientific publication it aims at dissemination of knowledge particularly to policymakers, market stakeholders and academic researchers.”