The State Bank of Pakistan lowered the discount rate for a fourth straight meeting to 7 percent from 8 percent, central bank Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra said Saturday
Inflation has eased each month this year
- Announced a new target for the overnight repo rate at 50 basis points or half a percentage point below the benchmark to better manage liquidity in the interbank market as part of the IMF loan program
- The new rate is part of a band where the benchmark is the ceiling and repo is the floor. The floor rate has been set at 5 percent after reducing the band by 50 basis points, according to a bank statement on the website
- The IMF this month scaled back Pakistan's growth forecast for the year through June to 4.1 percent from 4.3 percent and 4.5 percent from 4.7 percent for the following 12 months
- The latest rate reduction will probably be the last for several months as a rebound in oil costs will spark price pressures, economists said
