Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%
Pakistan's central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15% on Monday, it said in a statement, for a fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
Most respondents in a Reuters poll last week expected a cut of 200 bps after inflation moved down sharply from a multi-decade high of nearly 40% in May 2023, saying reductions were needed to bolster growth.
Average consumer price index inflation in the South Asian country is 8.7% in the current financial year, which started in July, the statistics bureau says. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects inflation to average 9.5% for the year ending June.
Monday's move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22%, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.
October inflation came in at 7.2%, slightly above the government's expectation of 6% to 7%. The finance ministry expects inflation to slow further to 5.5% to 6.5% in November.
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