Business
State Bank of Pakistan announces interest rate cut – SUCH TV
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced a 50-basis-point cut in the policy rate in its final monetary policy decision of the current year, signaling a cautious shift as inflation shows signs of control.
The State Bank has issued its last monetary policy of the current year, reducing the policy rate by 50 basis points. As a result, the base interest rate has been lowered from 11% to 10.5%, according to the central bank.
This marks the first rate cut after a prolonged period of policy stability. The interest rate has been cut by half a percentage point after seven months.
The decision was taken during a monetary policy meeting after a detailed review of key economic indicators, the State Bank said. Officials cited improved inflation trends as a key reason for adjusting the policy stance.
The move reflects a shift away from continuously maintaining high interest rates.
Policy rate timeline
December 2024: Policy rate set at 13%
January 2025: Reduced to 12%
March 2025: Maintained at 12%
May 2025: Further reduced to 11%
June 2025: Maintained at 11%
July 2025: Maintained at 11%
September 2025: Maintained at 11%
October 2025: Maintained at 11%
December 2025: Reduced to 10.5%
The State Bank of Pakistan has cut the policy rate by 0.5 percentage points after maintaining it at 11% for seven months, reflecting a cautious shift toward monetary easing.
Inflation under control, policy stance adjusted
The State Bank acknowledged that inflation has come under control, prompting a change in its long-standing tight monetary policy. Previously, the central bank had kept the interest rate unchanged at 11% for four consecutive policy decisions.
This easing suggests growing confidence in macroeconomic stability.
With the reduction in the policy rate, bank loans for businesses and industries have become cheaper. Analysts say the cut may provide some relief to the private sector by lowering borrowing costs and supporting economic activity.
However, the reduction remains modest compared to market expectations.
Experts point to IMF influence
Economic experts say the State Bank’s tight monetary policy remains influenced by the IMF program, limiting the pace of rate cuts. Despite the reduction, the policy rate is still around five percentage points higher than the current inflation rate of 5.5%, analysts noted.
This gap indicates continued caution by the central bank.
The business community has repeatedly demanded a cut to single-digit interest rates as inflation declines. However, experts say the State Bank has once again ignored these demands, opting for a gradual approach.
Despite the government’s desire, analysts believe interest rates could not be brought to single digits in 2025, reflecting fiscal and external constraints.
Two ads promoting British beef and milk have been banned after television presenter and environmental campaigner Chris Packham complained that they misled consumers about the products’ carbon footprints.
Both ads for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) Let’s Eat Balanced campaign used the carbon footprint of British beef and milk to promote the products, firstly stating: “British beef not only tastes great, but has a carbon footprint that’s half the global average*.”
The asterisk linked to text that stated: “Full lifecycle emissions of CO2 eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kg of beef.”
The ad for milk stated: “British milk not only tastes good, but is also produced to world-class standards, and has a carbon footprint a third lower than the global average.”
Packham complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ads, and specifically the carbon footprint claims, were misleading as they did not reflect the full environmental impact of British meat and dairy.
The AHDB said the ads’ mention of carbon emissions would be understood in relation to the environmental impact of beef and milk that occurred between the “cradle-to-retail” stages.
But the ASA said the average consumer “being reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect” would understand the claims to apply beyond the retail stage and include actions such as cooking and wastage.
The ASA said: “While we acknowledged the potential difficulties in producing post-retail emissions data, the claims in the ads suggested those emissions were included and we therefore expected the evidence provided to also include them.
“We therefore concluded that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the full life-cycle claims in the ads, which was how the average consumer was likely to interpret them.
“We reminded AHDB that environmental claims should be based on the full life cycle unless the ad stated otherwise.”
AHDB’s director of communications and market development, Will Jackson, said: “Let’s Eat Balanced is doing what it was designed to do, providing clear, factual, evidence-led information about British food, nutrition and farming standards.
“Since the investigation began, we have conducted independent consumer research which found that the majority of respondents interpreted these adverts as relating to the production phase only, from farm to retail.
“This research provides important insight into consumer understanding and supports our belief that consumers were not misled by the information we shared in these two specific adverts.”
BENGALURU: India’s Gen Z workforce is embracing what experts describe as “portfolio careers” – balancing multiple professional identities and income streams simultaneously. New research from LinkedIn shows that 75% of Gen Z entrepreneurs in India now manage multiple income streams, significantly higher than the 62% among Gen X entrepreneurs. The findings point to a growing preference among younger professionals for flexibility, autonomy and diversified sources of income. “We’re also seeing the rise of the ‘portfolio era’, with more professionals creating multiple income streams and redefining what a career can look like. This shift is making entrepreneurship more accessible than ever before,” said LinkedIn India country manager Kumaresh Pattabiraman.Rather than depending on a single full-time role, many professionals are simultaneously building businesses, freelancing, consulting, creating online content and monetising specialised skills through digital platforms. The trend comes amid a broader rise in entrepreneurial activity in India. LinkedIn recorded a 104% year-on-year increase in members adding “Founder” to their profiles – the highest growth among all global markets.AI is also emerging as a major enabler of this shift. The report found that 85% of Gen Z entrepreneurs consider AI and digital tools important to their business operations.
Sam Altman said Elon Musk tried many times for total control of OpenAI, which he’s now suing.
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