LAHORE: Renowned business man and former caretaker minister Gohar Ejaz has said that Pakistan’s government was getting huge borrowing from local banks resultantly 100pc of bank deposits currently invested in government securities.
Taking to his social media account on X, Gohar Ijaz advised the central bank State Bank of Pakistan to align the policy rate with the region and inflation which is below 5pc. He added that reducing the key rate would slash domestic debt servicing costs by half.
He urged that how does paying higher interest from taxpayers’ money to the banks control inflation, when consumer and mortgage borrowing in Pakistan remains negligible?” He questioned the authorities to reassess the current policy.
former caretaker minister added that lowering interest rates to match the regional level. Currently, below 6% was essential to make Pakistan competitive for export-led growth. Gohar Ejaz said that taxpayers were bearing an excess annual interest burden of nearly Rs3.5 trillion, while banks continue to earn trillions in profits due to the prevailing monetary policy.
