ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that there was room for lowering the monetary policy rate by the end of this year, Dawn.com reported.

After slashing the interest rate by 1,000bps from 22 per cent since June 2024 in seven intervals, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has maintained it at 11pc since May.

Addressing an event in Islamabad, Mr Aurangzeb said, “The monetary policy rate and the market-based exchange rate are very much the purview of the State Bank of Pakistan and the Monetary Policy Committee. “Having said that, in my personal opinion, I do think there is room to do more in terms of policy rate…,” he added.

About the economy, he said, “On the financing costs, we have moved in the right direction. On the energy side, we are beginning to move in the right direction.”

The minister further said the government needed to bring taxation to a regional competitive level by expanding the tax net and closing loopholes.

During the media briefing, Mr Aurangzeb also highlighted a “double-digit increase” in exports in the textile, IT and pharmaceutical sectors.

He said small and medium enterprises’ loans increased by 41pc while the loans in the agricultural sector crossed Rs2.5 trillion. “Private sector loans have increased by 38pc,” he added.

He added that the government had reduced its debt servicing by Rs1tr in the past year. “God-willing, our debt servicing will go down by more than Rs1tr this year as well.”

On the government’s rightsizing plan, he noted that the process for 43 ministries and over 400 departments was underway.

Mr Aurangzeb also pledged further reduction in energy costs due to the savings from the revised agreements with 27 independent power producers earlier this year.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025