Governor State Bank of Pakistan Yaseen Anwar would unveil the central bank’s monetary policy statement today Friday. The new discount rate for the next couple of months would be announced in a press conference due here at 5pm at the SBP, said a statement issued by the bank’s chief spokesperson Umar Siddique Thursday. Previously, the central bank was widely expected to revise the current 9 percent policy rate upward at least by 50 basis points given the increasing inflationary pressures in the country. In July, the Consumer Price Index inflation clocked in 8.5 percent which the analysts believed would further escalate in the months ahead. The Karachi stocks market reacted strongly to the reports forecasting a hike in the cost of borrowing. However, the recent approval by the IMF of $6.64 billion of three-year Extended Fund Facility for dollar-hungry Pakistan changed, apparently, the scenario. The IMF, previously, was believed to have been pressuring Pakistan for bringing the monetary policy in accordance with inflation numbers. In its fresh EFF program, however, the international lender has urged Islamabad to focus on attracting foreign investment in the country. This has relieved pressure on the market sentiments where a status quo is widely being expected today in the SBP’s monetary policy stance. Whether or not the State Bank behaves as per expectations, however, is yet to be seen.
