MPC: caution against rushing rate cuts
There are varying views on monetary policy among stakeholders. One compelling argument for cutting rates further into a single digit is to facilitate a growth revival while keeping real rates…
MPC should hold the line
The monetary policy is expected to be announced next week. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has already slashed interest rates by half from their peak to 11 percent. Yet,…
MPC meeting: navigating between disinflation and external fragility
Monetary policy decision is due today. Three macro variables are making a compelling argument for a big rate cut. These include sharply falling headline inflation, consistently running primary fiscal surplus,…
MPC clearly in a dilemma about how to respond to policy rate question
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is set to announce its monetary policy decision today. Over the past six reviews, the central bank has slashed interest rates by a cumulative…
It’s about time MPC revisited its policy stance
The monetary policy committee is meeting next Monday. In the last review, two out of ten members voted for a rate cut of 100 basis points (bps), leading to a…
Should the MPC meeting be preponed?
The most concerning and alarming element in the macro numbers is that inflation is growing out of control. Food inflation has exceeded 40 percent while the core inflation is close…
Questions the MPC didn’t answer
There were no surprises at all in the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) meeting. Parts of the market tilted towards a 125-basis point rise but the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan)…
The MPC projections
The last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP was held on the 14th of December 2021, after the meeting on the 17th of November 2021. Combined,…
Time to strengthen SBP’s MPC
The economic team, including SBP, is taking too much time to make moves, and in the process taking some unwarranted decisions. The disposition was not much different for previous regimes;…
MPC: wait and see
There are clear signs of current account slippages. This comes in tandem with economic recovery in Pakistan. A better fiscal year (2020-21) – in terms of growth and tamed current…
