��������Ƶ

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central bank is expected to deliver a sixth consecutive policy rate cut this month, a poll found on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Jan. 27.
The State Bank of Pakistan cut its key policy rate by 200 basis points to 13 percent on Dec. 16. This was the fifth straight reduction since June as Pakistan keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
The move made last year’s cuts one of the most aggressive among emerging market central banks in the current easing cycle. Cumulatively, the SBP cut rates by 900 basis points in the last year.
In a poll conducted by Karachi-based Topline Securities, 61 percent of the participants expected that the central bank will announce a rate cut of 100 basis points.
“Participants are expecting rate cut due to high real rates of 950bps in Jan. 2025, compared to historic average of 200-300bps, despite 900bps cut in total interest rates in last five consecutive meetings since Jun 2024,” Topline Securities said on Tuesday.
“We also hold the view that the SBP will announce a rate cut of 100bps, taking total cut to 1000bps. This will be 6th consecutive cut of this cycle.”
In Dec. the MPC assessed that its approach of measured policy rate cuts was keeping inflationary and external account pressures in check, while supporting economic growth on a sustainable basis.
The central bank noted that it expected inflation to average “substantially below” its earlier forecast range of 11.5 percent to 13.5 percent in 2025.
On the inflation side, 56 percent of the participants expected inflation to remain below 8 percent this fiscal year (July 2024-June 2025), according to Topline Securities.
The South Asian country is navigating a challenging economic recovery path and has been buttressed by a $7 billion facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September.
The central bank has said that “considerable efforts and additional measures” will be required for Pakistan to meet its annual revenue target, a key focus of the IMF agreement.

ISLAMABAD: Peshawar Zalmi have bolstered their bowling line-up for this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) with the inclusion of Corbin Bosch and Mohammad Ali, skipper Babar Azam said on Tuesday.
The statement after all six PSL franchises assembled their squads at the glittering PSL 2025 Player Draft in Lahore. The Twenty20 tournament is scheduled to take place between April 8 and May 19, with 116 players from 10 countries.
Azam said they had included all-rounders and further improved their bowling line-up, expressing his satisfaction over the selection of players for this year’s PSL edition.
“The main thing that we have discussed is our combination. Our batting line-up is very good and we have further improved bowling,” he said in a video shared on Tuesday.
Azam said they attached “great priority to bowlers” and picked South African Corbin Bosch and Muhammad Ali.
“So, these two picks of ours are very good, and the difficult numbers are 5 and 6. In that, you have to bring in a game-changer element and choose such a player, so we have seen that spark in him [Ali],” he said.
“We have seen that thing, that he can have a different impact. So, we have picked him in that sense, the way he played in the Champions Cup and the way he made an impact, he should make the same impact in this PSL.”
The Zalmi skipper said weather will have a lot to do with this year’s PSL and they have kept the combination according to the conditions.
“We have the spinner, Sufiyan Muqeem, with us,” he said. “So, we have made a very good combination and we are following the plan.”
Peshawar Zalmi squad: Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Corbin Bosch, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Nahid Rana, Arif Yaqoob, Najeebullah Zadran, Max Bryant, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufyan Moqim, Ali Raza and Maaz Sadaqat
Supplementary players – Ahmed Daniyal and Alzarri Joseph