The State Bank of Pakistan will announce the monetary policylink today.

According to the details, SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir will address the mediaafter announcing the policy rate, which has been kept unchanged since Julyat 7 per cent.

Following the novel coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan, the monetary policybecame the focal point for economic activities after the SBP drasticallyslashed interest rate from mid-March 2020 till the end of the previousfiscal.

The upcoming monetary policy is highly important for the financial sectoras well as the entire economy since inflation slipped slightly in Decemberand could see further decline in January.

Consumer price index inflation eased to 8 percent in December from 8.3percent in the previous month. The SBP wants to stick to its growthprojection of 1.5 to 2.5 percent in FY2021, a decent recovery from thedizzying 0.4 percent contraction in FY2020 as a result of coronaviruslockdown.

“The Covid-related uncertainty poses both upside and downside risks to theSBP’s macroeconomic projections,” the SBP said in a latest report.

However, the latest SBP surveys reflect well-anchored inflationexpectations of both businesses and consumers.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Thursday the Governor State Bank ofPakistan Dr Reza Baqir called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad andbriefed him on overall economic situation of the country.

The Governor SBP also apprised the Prime Minister about Roshan DigitalAccount, stability in exports and remittances and the expected increase inthem due to government’s steps.