Pakistan 'very comfortably' placed to meet IMF targets, SBP chief assures global investors.

MARRAKECH -- State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad on Friday assured investors that the country is 'very comfortably placed to meet' International Monetary Fund's (IMF) targets for end-September, net international reserves (NIR) and net domestic assets (NDA).

The governor made the assurance during his meeting with key international investors during events organised by global banks, including Barclays, JP Morgan, Standard Bank, and Jefferies on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.

As per a State Bank press release, the investors were briefed about the recent macroeconomic developments, policy responses to current challenges, and the outlook of Pakistan's economy, and also answered their questions.

The governor informed the investors that the 'current policy mix is geared' to achieve stabilisation by addressing the 'macroeconomic imbalances'.

He stated that the SBP was among the first central banks that began to tighten monetary policy in the wake of the rising inflation globally. However, certain domestic challenges such as the 2022 floods had 'complicated SBP's efforts to bring down inflation'.

'Stabilisation measures have started yielding results. Inflation has come down to 31.4% in September 2023 after peaking at 38.0% in May 2023 and is expected to continue its downward trajectory over the coming months, whereas the external account has improved considerably and foreign exchange buffers are being built up,' the governor was quoted.

He added that the central bank expects inflation to 'come down significantly during the second half of this fiscal...