KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has kept the policy interest rate unchanged at six per cent for the next two months.
Addressing a news conference, SBP Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra said that the trend in year-on-year CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation has reversed; it rose for third consecutive month to 3.2pc in December 2015.
The central bank said it expected the average inflation to remain 3pc to 4pc during this fiscal year. “Average CPI inflation declined to 2.1pc during July-December 2015, with perishable food items and motor fuel leading the way,” he added.
The monetary policy statement said major macroeconomic indicators continued to improve in the first half of the fiscal year, the inflationary environment stayed benign, large-scale manufacturing (LSM) gained traction and fiscal consolidation remained on track.
The SBP governor said there are challenges to overall economic performance from the declines in the production of cotton and rice. However, a part of these losses could be offset by better performance of other crops, especially from the upcoming wheat crop.
