SBP keeps policy rate unchanged at 13.25pc

SBP keeps policy rate unchanged at 13.25pc

Karachi (Agencies): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 13.25 percent.

SBP Governor Reza Baqir said that when the monetary policy committee had decided the interest rate in July, inflation stood at 8.4 percent.

"A few months after that, inflation rate kept on increasing. It [inflation rate] kept on increasing after that. Most recently, it stood at 12.4 percent," he said.

The state bank governor said that inflation had increased due to the increase in food prices and hike in utility bills. He said that the economic team was of the opinion that inflation will decline in the coming days to around five to six percent.

Baqir said that inflation expectations were "stable and constant" stating that inflation would decrease but it was difficult to predict when that will happen. "We know that in the long run, inflation will decline," he said.