Business

Monetary policy: SBP likely to leave rate on hold today

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

SBP to issue advance calendar of MPC meetings for first half of 2023.
Small section of market participants did not rule out a hike or reduction.
Central bank increased rate by 800 basis points in 11 months.

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is scheduled to announce its key policy rate for the next six weeks today and a majority of pundits have developed a consensus that the central bank will leave the rate unchanged at 15% in order to wait for the stabilisation of the economy.

However, a small section of market participants did not rule out a hike of 50-100 basis points or a reduction of 25-50 basis points.

More importantly, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is following his old recipe of running a controlled economy, will like to see an easy monetary policy. The policy rate is a tool for the central bank to create a balance between inflation and economic growth.

The central bank increased the rate by a cumulative 800 basis points in 11 months (September 2021 to July 2022) to 15%.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the rate in its previous monetary policy unveiled on October 10, 2022.

Most of the pundits aren’t expecting any rate increase because the Ministry of Finance has not indicated anything in the recent T-bill auctions.

The OMO injection is growing and it’s around Rs6 trillion. And SBP has issued recent OMOs at prevailing rates. This implies that SBP might not be thinking of any increase in the rate. The secondary market yields imply the same.

In addition, another positive development since the last MPC meeting has been the decline in international prices of major commodities such as WTI, coal, brent, steel, wheat, and Arab Light. This bodes well for our external account position, hence providing much-needed relief to our trade numbers.

To recall, in the last monetary policy statement too, the MPC stated that the existing rate prudently reflected a balance between maintaining growth post floods and managing inflation.

Moreover, as mentioned in the last statement, SBP is closely monitoring the inflation trajectory. On the inflationary front, the headline inflation continues to remain in the double-digit since November 2021 mainly on the back of an uptick in food and energy prices.

In the month of October, headline inflation clocked in at 26.6% year-on-year. However, on a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 4.71% mainly due to fuel cost adjustment adjustments and food price hikes.

The central bank is also expected to issue the advance calendar of MPC meetings for the first half of the calendar year 2023 after today’s meeting.

Business

Pakistan’s gold prices continue to decline.

Published

4 hours ago

Farwa

The price of ten grams of 24 carat gold dropped by Rs 1,201 to Rs 205,418 from Rs 206,619, while the price of ten grams of 22 carat gold dropped to Rs 188,300 from Rs 189,400, according to the All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association.

Silver, priced at Rs. 2,620 per tola and Rs. 2,254.80 per ten grams, stayed at that level. As reported by the organization, the price of gold dropped by $11 on the global market, to $2,297 from $2,308.

Business

Price of LPG “slashed” by Rs. 20 per kilogram

Published

4 hours ago

Farwa

Sources claim that LPG rates have been lowered by Rs 20, making the cost per kilogram drop from Rs 280 to Rs 260.

It is noteworthy to remark that the costs of LPG were reduced by Rs 20 per kilogram earlier, resulting in a total reduction of Rs 40 per kilogram within a few weeks.

The price of liquefied petroleum gas for the month of May 2024 was lowered by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on April 30.

The LPG tariffs were lowered by Rs 11.88 to Rs 238.46 per kilogram in accordance with the OGRA’s notice. On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the new rates will go into effect.

In April of last year, the price per kilogram of LPG was Rs 250.34. pricing reduction of Rs 140.18 has resulted in a new pricing for home LPG cylinders set for May 2024 of Rs 2813.85.

The OGRA reported a drop in liquefied petroleum gas pricing in April. The price of LPG is now Rs 250.34 per kg instead of Rs 256.78 due to a reduction of Rs 6.44 per kg.

The price of the household cylinder was fixed at Rs 2954.03 for the month of April, down from Rs 3030.12, a decrease of Rs 76.9.

Business

ADB delegation stops by FBR headquarters

Published

4 hours ago

Farwa

Senior Director ADB Tariq Niazi oversaw the expedition, which also involved Sana Masood, Farzana Noshab, and Senior Public Sector Management Specialist Laisiasa Tora. The meeting included presentations from economists as well, according to an FBR press release.

The officers focused on structural and policy adjustments as they discussed the Domestic Resource Mobilization Program’s implementation at the meeting.

$300 million was given to the Pakistani government by ADB in December 2023 as a result of the hard work and dedication of FBR. Better laws, regulations, and institutional capability for the FBR were established by Sub-Program I.

With the $300 million in funding provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the Government of Pakistan in December 2023, the delegation conveyed satisfaction with the program’s effective launch.

The FBR also underlined how crucial digitization is to recording the economy and boosting productivity in a sustainable way.

In order to promote the Government of Pakistan’s Digital Tax Administration Project, both parties decided to look into measures to improve their cooperation.