Pakistan’s Central Bank Boosts Interest Rate to Highest Since 1999

A vendor covers herself with a plastic sheet to protect from rain while she waits for customers at a market, in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 21, 2022. AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Pakistan’s central bank on Nov. 25 raised its key policy rate by 100 basis points to 16 percent—the highest level since 1999—amid persistent global and domestic supply shocks that have pushed inflation higher.

The country’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said the decision was made to prevent inflation from spiraling out of control as inflationary pressures have turned out to be “stronger and more persistent than expected.”