Interest rate hike to slowdown economy.

KARACHI -- President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said recently announced monetary policy is too aggressive. An interest rate hike of 1.5 percent by the central bank is over and below the expectations of the experts and the business community but it will choke the economic growth at this critical juncture, he said.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the monetary policy after a poorly negotiated deal with the IMF, will hit manufacturing, agriculture, exports and jobs while it will deprive the private sector of...