State Bank to hold Monetary Policy Meeting to be held on May 5
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has scheduled its next Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) meeting for Monday, May 5, to review the benchmark interest
rate. A policy announcement will follow the meeting.
Market analysts, including Arif Habib Limited (AHL), anticipate a 50-basis-point
rate cut—from 12% to 11.5%—as inflationary pressures ease and economic
indicators stabilize. If implemented, this would mark the first policy rate
change since March, when the SBP opted to maintain rates amid inflation
uncertainty.
Read More Pakistan Central Bank cuts policy rate by 100bps to 12%
At its last meeting, the central bank noted that inflation in February had surprised on the downside due to falling food and energy prices. However, it also warned that volatility in these segments, along with persistently high core inflation, posed risks to the disinflationary trend.
Despite these concerns, AHL argues that a narrowing inflation outlook and
the widening real interest rate gap support a gradual reduction to encourage
economic activity without unsettling financial markets.
Separately, a bank holiday has been announced for Monday in conjunction
with the MPC meeting.
Source: https://www.incpak.com/