SBP may have to raise policy rate in today’s MPC meeting, says Miftah Ismail

May 23, 2022 (MLN): Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the country may increase interest rates in a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which is scheduled to convene later today as it battles Asia’s second-fastest inflation, reported Bloomberg today.

The country can’t afford to raise fuel costs and will try and convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to offer financing without ending subsidies on gasoline and diesel.

To note, the minister is leading negotiations for the seventh review of the IMF program.

“I will sign the agreement with the IMF in the next two days and won’t come back without doing it,” Miftah Ismail said.

The country’s dollar bonds and currency are trading at a record low as a shortage of dollars threatens to spill into a full-blown economic crisis without IMF funding. Ousted premier Imran Khan also plans to hold a sit-in at Islamabad starting May 25 to force early elections, it added.

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