Monetary policy: LCCI chief wants a cut of 200 basis points

LAHORE:

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should bring down discount rate in the upcoming monetary policy and pave way for the much-needed new investment in the industrial sector, said Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ijaz A Mumtaz.

“Though the SBP did bring down the discount rate in the last monetary policy, it did not give enough breathing space to the industrial sector,” he said in a statement. “SBP has to bring down the interest rates keeping in view the ground realities and strict competition in the international market. A cut of 50 to 100 basis points would not be doing any service to the challenged economy.

 “SBP’s positive initiative would also make Pakistani products competitive in the international market as fluctuation in discount rates controls the industrial input cost,” Mumtaz added.

He said that interest rate in Pakistan averaged 12.55 per cent from 1992 until 2014, reaching an all-time high of 20 per cent in October 1996 and a record low of 7.50 per cent in November 2002.

He urged the SBP to cut at least 200 basis points in mark-up rates to give a jumpstart to economic activities in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2015.

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