KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will announce monetary policy on July 16, which will be the first under the new governor.

A press release issued on Friday said SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir will unveil the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee at a press conference.

Since inflation is still high, the financial sector does not expect any downward change in the policy rate, which has been on the rise for more than a year and currently stands at 12.25 per cent. The SBP believes the high interest rate is a must to get control over the rising inflationary pressure in the economy.

However, the banking sector is still cautious while investing in long-term government papers fearing the interest rate may go up further. Banks invested mostly in three-month treasury bills.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019