SBP maintains main polity interest rate at 6pc

KARACHI, April 9 (APP): The Monetary Policy Committee of the State Bank of Pakistan has decided to maintain the policy rate at six percent.

This was announced in the monetary policy statement issued by the SPB here on Saturday.

It said that after bottoming out in September 2015, both the Year-on-Year (YoY) headline CPI and period average inflation are on a rising trend.

The statement said a slight uptick in inflation was indicative of an increase in aggregate demand in the economy.

"This is reflected in rising demand for consumer durables, acceleration in construction activities, and expansion in the services sector," the statement said.

The monetary policy statement issued by the SBP further stated that while the YoY inflation rose from 1.3 percent in September 2015 to 3.9 percent in March 2016, the period average inflation increased from 1.7 percent to 2.6 percent during this period.

At its last policy review on Jan. 30, the State Bank maintained the interest rate at 6 percent, citing lower inflationary pressures and improved economic indicators.