State Bank of Pakistan
Another Pakistani Central Bank Rate Hike
April 4, 2023
One monetary authority whose officials couldn’t afford to put policy tightening on pause is the State Bank of Pakistan. In a meeting scheduled initially for April 27 but moved up in the month, officials raised their policy rate for a tenth time since September 2021, but the percentage point increment announced today was only a […] More
Another Rise in Equities Despite Higher Bond Yields and Price of Oil
April 4, 2023
Fear of an additional climb in central bank interest rates has lessened. The Reserve Bank of Australia‘s Official Cash Rate, which had been raised from 0.1% to 3.6% between May 2022 and last month, was left unchanged. A released statement said that inflation had peaked in Australia but projects that a return to the 2-3% […] More
Three Percentage Point Central Bank Rate Hike in Pakistan
March 2, 2023
Officials at the State Bank of Pakistan boosted the policy interest rate sharply from 17% to 20% today, bringing the rate level to a 27-year high. This was the second increase of 2023 following a 100-basis point move in January. From a pandemic low of 7.0%, the rate was lifted by 275 basis points in […] More
Dollar Buoyed by Higher U.S. Long-Term Interest Rates and Reinvigorated Hawkish Fedspeak
March 2, 2023
In overnight action, the dollar advanced 0.6% against the euro, sterling, yuan and kiwi and by 0.5% relative to the yen and Australian dollar. At 4.07%, the ten-year U.S. Treasury yield has climbed 8 basis points today and 67 basis points over the four weeks since February 2nd. The Federal Reserve District presidents in Minnesota […] More
Pakistani Central Bank Rate Increased to 17%
January 23, 2023
The State Bank of Pakistan‘s policy rate has been raised a full percentage point to a 24-year high of 17.0%. That’s 10 percentage points above the pandemic low of 7% that prevailed from June 2020 until an initial 25-basis point hike in September 2021. The previous rate hike in November was also by a full […] More
Lunar New Year Holiday Quells Monday Financial Market Activity
January 23, 2023
Financial markets in China will be shut all week for the Lunar New Year holiday that ushers in the Year of the Rabbit. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam are also closed today. The euro touched a nine-month high overnight of $1.0923 but subsequently settled back under $1.09 to a net […] More
Holidays in U.S., Japan, and Canada But No Respite for Equity Market Weakness
October 10, 2022
China emerged from a full-week holiday to experience a 1.7% drop in equity prices. Stock markets also fell 1.4% in Australia and Taiwan, 3.0% in Hong Kong, and 1.2% in Singapore. Japan observed Health and Sports Day, and the U.S. and Canada are observing Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day, respectively. There will be not bond […] More
More Central Bank Rate Hikes in Pakistan, Israel, and Ghana
May 23, 2022
In all of these instances, tightening interest rate cycles inspired by accelerating inflation had begun prior to today’s moves. There have been five increases of the State Bank of Pakistan‘s policy interest rate since September 2021, when the rate was raised 25 basis points from 7.0% to 7.25%. hikes followed of 150 basis points in […] More
Pakistani and Russian Central Bank Interest Rates Undergo Big Changes in Opposite Directions
April 8, 2022
The latest batch of central bank interest rate decisions includes a 250 basis point hike in the State Bank of Pakistan’s policy rate to 12.25%. The decision was made at an emergency unscheduled meeting, accompanied by an upwardly revised 11% projected rate of inflation this year, and explicitly intended to restore a premium between the […] More
More Bad Inflation News and a Diversity of Central Bank Decisions
April 8, 2022
The dollar continued to trade at historically firm levels overnight. The weighted DXY dollar index is up 0.1% and touched another multiyear high of 99.99. Gains of 0.5%, 0.3% and 0.2% were made against the New Zealand, Australian and British currencies, but the greenback dipped 0.2% versus the Russian ruble. Asian stock markets made modest […] More
