ISLAMABAD  -  The State Bank of Paki­stan (SBP) has kept the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent amid the continuing declining trend in inflation from its peak of 38 percent in May to 27.4 percent in August 2023.

“At its meeting to­day, the Monetary Pol­icy Committee (MPC) decided to maintain the policy rate at 22 percent. This decision takes into account the latest inflation outturn reflecting the continu­ing declining trend in inflation from its peak of 38 percent in May to 27.4 percent in August 2023,” said the SBP on Thursday.

It noted that even though global oil prices have risen recently and are being passed on to consum­ers through adjustment in administered energy prices, inflation is projected to remain on the down­ward trajectory, especially from the second half of this year. As such, real interest rates continue to remain in positive territory on a forward-looking basis. Moreover, the expected ease in supply con­straints owing to better agriculture output and the recent administrative measures against speculative activity in the FX and commodity markets would also support the inflation outlook.

The MPC noted four key developments since its July meeting. First, agriculture outlook has im­proved based on the latest data on cotton arrivals, better input conditions, and satellite data indicat­ing healthy vegetation of other crops. Second, glob­al oil prices have been rising and are now hovering over $90/barrel level. Third, as anticipated, the cur­rent account posted a deficit in July after remaining in surplus for the last four months, partly reflecting the impact of the recent ease in import restrictions. Finally, recent administrative and regulatory mea­sures aimed at improving availability of essential food commodities and curbing illegal activities in the foreign exchange market have begun to yield re­sults. This has helped in narrowing the gap between the interbank and open market exchange rates.

The MPC noted that it will continue to monitor the risks to the inflation outlook and, if required, it will take appropriate action to achieve the objec­tive of price stability. At the same time, the MPC also stressed on maintaining a prudent fiscal stance to keep aggregate demand in check. This is necessary to bring inflation down on a sustainable basis and to achieve the medium-term target of 5 – 7 percent by end-FY25. The latest available high-frequency indi­cators depict some improvement in economic activ­ity. There is moderate pickup in sales of key inputs, like POL, fertilizer and cement, along with slight in­crease in import volumes. At the same time, with better input conditions and latest updates, the MPC noted that the outlook of the agriculture sector has improved. Earlier concerns related to floods have subsided and cotton arrivals almost doubled from last year. Moreover, the Committee assessed that domestic demand will also remain contained due to the unfolding impact of monetary tightening and envisaged fiscal consolidation. These developments are broadly in line with the MPC’s earlier expecta­tions about moderate growth this year. The current account balance recorded a deficit of $809 million in July 2023 after posting surpluses in the preceding four months. This was largely in line with the earlier full-year current account projection for FY24, which already took into account the withdrawal of import prioritization guidelines and the resultant pickup in import volumes. Nonetheless, the MPC views that overall imports are expected to remain in check, supported by the favorable trend in non-oil com­modity prices, moderate domestic demand and im­proved cotton production. Favorable rice prices and available surplus bode well for the export outlook.