WITH inflation predicted to start easing, the decision taken at the State Bank’s monetary policy committee meeting to hold the key interest rate steady — for the fourth time since June — shows that the SBP is not willing to leave the goal of price stability to chance this time. Its position might appear hawkish and a case of once bitten, twice shy in view of a more stable currency, positive 12-
The State Bank kept the interest rate unchanged at a record 22 per cent on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive meeting, hoping to see a significant decline in inflation in the second half of the fiscal year. Most independent economists and analysts expected the central bank to hold the rate steady due to a surge in the November inflation. The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) said that a
The government raised Rs2.15 trillion through the auction of market treasury bills but kept the cut-off yields almost unchanged on Wednesday. What is more significant in the auction was the investors’ rush for the 12-month papers as they were willing to park Rs3.269tr in it. The State Bank in its monetary policy announced on Tuesday said that the inflation would come down in the second half of
The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) — a one-window facility of the federal government — on Wednesday announced the $2 billion financial closing of the country’s largest Thar coal-fired power project, currently operational at Thar, by Shanghai Electric Corporation, China. In a statement, the PPIB said the financial close agreement was signed by PPIB Managing Director Shah Jahan Mir
Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar said on Wednesday that public-sector dominance in the insurance sector should be reduced by privatising State Life Insurance Corporation. Addressing the International InsureImpact Conference 2023 organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), she said competition should be enhanced in insurance by offering a “level playing field” to p