State Bank of Pakistan Governor Raza Baqir has said that inflation and current account deficit have increased in the last two months, efforts are being made to stabilize rising prices while steady growth is our target and interest rate hike has been done for this purpose. ۔
Speaking privately after the SBP hiked the basic interest rate by 1.5 per cent in monetary policy, Raza Baqir said that steps were being taken to reduce inflation, adding that this year our growth would be five per cent. The pace is picking up, with the economic growth target set at 5% this year.
“Inflation is accelerating, our target is steady growth, inflation, current account deficit has increased in the last two months, it was higher than our previous expectations, we have taken this step today to improve growth, some,” he added. People also have reservations. We also had reservations about inflation and exchange rate. We hope that what we have done today will moderate the demand and reduce our current account deficit.
The Governor SBP said that they want to reduce excessive imports, inflation is 9% and interest rate is 75.8%, our measures will reduce the current account deficit, Afghanistan was running out of cash, we took steps to stop this while Afghanistan also put pressure on the exchange rate.
Raza Baqir said that some steps have been taken to control the current account deficit. Remittances are expected to exceed 30 30 billion this year. Increasing remittances will strengthen our exchange rate. The purpose of the meeting was to tell the banks that they are looking forward to stability.
He said that the banks will also give confidence to their customers and the speculation of dollar will end. With the news of Saudi aid, our exchange rate has come down from 175 to 170 while the rate has come down.
The Governor SBP said that Parliament is supreme, will make better decision for SBP, no first amendment is being made in SBP law, if amended in SBP law it will be 5th time, this amendment is aimed at enhancing SBP’s autonomy. Only a government representative can give a better answer in this regard.
