The governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Jameel Ahmad, warned that inflation could increase again in the coming months, despite a temporary decrease in March.
Speaking at the launch of the Pakistan literacy week in Karachi, the SBP head said inflation had fallen to a historical minimum of 0.7% in March 2025, but warned about an investment from next month.
“Despite the recent decrease, inflation is expected to increase again,” he said, citing monetary restrictions and previous imports that helped stabilize the economy.
Jameel Ahmad said that Pakistan faced severe challenges in 2022, with rapidly accelerated inflation, foreign reserves fell to two weeks of imports and the rupee depreciates up to 50%.
He said that the SBP had responded with aggressive policy measures, including elevation of interest rates and imposing import restrictions. These steps, he added, helped reduce the gap between interbank and open market exchange rates.
The head of SBP also said that Pakistan’s current account, which was in deficit last year, had returned to the surplus and remained through disciplined policy interventions.
He confirmed that the country’s external payment obligations for the 2015 fiscal year were $ 26 billion, of which $ 16 billion would be transferred or refinant. Of the remaining $ 10 billion, $ 8 billion had already been paid.
With respect to growth, AHMAD projected GDP to expand between 2.5% and 3.5% for the end of fiscal year 2015. However, he added that if the agricultural sector served strongly, growth could reach 4.2%.
