Pakistan interest rate unchanged at 15%
P akistan’s central bank on Saturday kept its key discount rate unchanged at 15 per cent amid warnings of a significant economic slowdown and demands from businessmen for interest rate cuts.” We are going to have lower industrial growth than most years but services and agriculture will grow near to normal levels to give us GDP growth rate of about 3.7 per cent” said Salim Raza Pakistan’s central bank governor in his first monetary policy statement since taking charge about a month ago. Businesses however demanded interest rate cuts to make bank borrowing more affordable in a period marked by the effects of an economic slowdown. The latest estimates on Pakistan’s industrial performance showed car sales fell by about 48 per cent in the second half of 2008 compared to the same period a year ago. ”Interest rates have to be reduced in order to tackle this situation. The business sector is suffering very badly” said Tahir Malik vice president of the Lah...