The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has released the half-yearly schedule for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings on a rolling basis.
According to the schedule, the first meeting of 2025 is set for Monday, January 27, with the SBP Governor announcing the committee’s decisions in a press conference thereafter.
Subsequent MPC meetings are scheduled for Monday, March 10, the third for May 5, and the fourth for June 16.
At its most recent meeting on December 16, the SBP reduced the policy rate by 200 basis points. The SBP cited a decrease in inflation to 4.9 percent year-on-year in November 2024, which aligned with the MPC’s forecasts.
Read: SBP Cuts Key Policy Rate to 13% Amid Lower Inflation
The bank attributed this deceleration primarily to ongoing reductions in food inflation and the diminishing impact of a previous hike in gas tariffs from November 2023. However, the SBP noted that despite these favourable trends, core inflation remained high at 9.7 per cent, and inflation expectations among consumers and businesses continued to fluctuate.