KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided not to hold Monetary Policy Comm­ittee meeting till Septe­mber, a press release issued on Friday said.

“Given the number of MPC meetings that have taken place in recent months, and actions taken in those meetings, the MPC does not consider it necessary to hold the regular meeting of July,” said the SBP.

The next regular mee­ting of the MPC will now be held in September, it added. Since the emergence of pandemic in March, the SBP has accelerated its effort to curtail possible financial and economic damages to the economy and pumped hundreds of billions while the entire country was under partial lockdown.

From mid-March, it started reducing the interest rate which was then at 13.25 per cent – highest in the region and was already damaging for economic growth. It has been slashed by a cumulative 625 basis points since then.

The economy has sta­rted picking up and the International Monetary Fund said that Pakistan would improve its performance in the new fiscal year. The new coronavirus cases have also started slowing down.

However, trade and industry believe that the prevailing 7pc policy rate is still high and should be reduced further.

“The MPC continues to observe economic conditions and stands ready to take whatever further actions may become necessary in response to any adverse impact on the economy because of the pandemic or any other factor,” added the SBP.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2020