Has the State Bank (SBP) gotten it wrong once again? That’s the question being asked by many as the bank last week decided to keep its benchmark policy rate steady at 15 per cent for a second consecutive meeting to support an economy struggling to contend with an unprecedented liquidity crisis worsened by the recent deadly floods. The reasons are obvious: the central bank’s recent track record
By all means, the monster of inflation is out with a bang touching 27.3 per cent in August — a 49-year high, before slightly receding to 23.2pc in September. The July-August 2022-23 inflation measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was above 26pc against 8.4pc during the same period last year. It dropped somewhat to 25.1pc in the first quarter (July-September) of 2022-23 against 8.7pc of 2021-2
The production of wheat in the upcoming Rabi season is expected to decline as decreasing profit margin and high input costs are making farmers look out for alternative crops like maize and rice, jeopardising national food security. Meanwhile, expressing concerns over the impending food shortage in the wake of floods, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for collective efforts to ensure food
If there is a single lesson of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war for us, it is that self-reliance in energy should become Pakistan’s number one goal from this point forward. This eight-month yet unfinished war will keep the international energy trade severely disrupted in the foreseeable future. The foremost objective of western countries is to take every punitive action that blocks Russia’s crude
Pakistan is expected to finally exit the ‘increased monitoring list’ — commonly known as grey list — of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Oct 21, after languishing in the infamous category for almost 52 months. “The first FATF Plenary under the two-year Singapore Presidency of T. Raja Kumar will take place on October 20-21, 2022,” said the Paris-based global watchdog on dirty money. Del