State Bank (SB) will announce fifth monetary policy of the current fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 on Saturday according to local media.
Local media carried out an exclusive survey in this regard with help of 15 experts. Eleven analysts suspected that interest rate would remain unvaried.
However, according to four experts the bank is likely to cut the interest rate by 50 percent.
It should be noted here that the current interest rate is maintained at six percent which is the lowest in past 40 years.
In the last announcement of the policy, the supreme bank had left the interest rate unchanged and showed satisfaction over shrinking of losses despite ten percent fall in exports.
The bank had maintained the six percent rate in January for the coming two months. Addressing a press conference then, State Bank Governor Ashraf Wathra had said that the private sector was acquiring more loans. He said that inflation rate was expected to remain four percent this year.
Improvement in large industries was evident while tax returns were increasing, he added.
Governor Wathra said that the negative impact of reduced production of cotton and rice could be compensated by improved production of wheat and other crops.
Talking about global payments, the Governor told that foreign exchange reserves had increased with the loan provided by International Monetary Fund (IMF) while foreign investment was expected to rise due to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Wathra added that the tax amnesty scheme for traders was a matter between the government and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
He said that the bank would welcome increase in filers’ numbers. He further said that SBP was considering the new situation after Iran sanctions were lifted. The decision on establishing banking links with Iran was to be taken after reviewing the situation then.
