SBP’s Monetary Policy Committee to Meet on 4 April

The Monetary Policy Committee of the State Bank of Pakistan will meet on Tuesday (4 April 2023) to decide about the Monetary Policy. In a press statement, the central bank said that it will issue the Monetary Policy Statement through a press release on the same day. At its last meeting on March 2, the MPC raised the policy rate by 300 basis points to the current 20 percent, the highest-ever policy rate since October 1996. The decision was based on higher inflation outcome due to external and fiscal adjustments Market experts expect another increase in the policy rate by 200 bps in the upcoming MPC meeting. According to a poll conducted by Topline Research, the majority of the participants (92.5 percent) expects the policy rate to increase by at least 100 bps. Out of these, 63 percent of participants expect a 200 bps increase, and 5 percent participants expect a 300 bps increase while 8 percent participants expect no change in the policy rate.