Saturday, 20 November, 2021 I 14 Rabi-us-Sani, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 142 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition
SBP hikeS intereSt rate to 8.75Pc t
HE State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday decided to raise its policy rate by 150 basis points (bps) to 8.75 per cent. The central bank had earlier rescheduled its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting which was to be held on a later date in light of “recent unforeseen developments that have affected the outlook for inflation and the balance of payments.” “With risks rotating from growth to inflation and the current account faster than expected, there is now a need to proceed faster to normalise monetary policy to counter inflation and preserve stability with growth,” the statement said, adding that today’s rate increase is a material move in this direction. “Looking ahead, the MPC re-iterated that the end goal of mildly positive real interest rates remains unchanged, and given today’s move, expects to take measured steps to that end,” the statement added. It may be recalled that in its previous
Senate passes four bills amid opposition’s protest The upper house of parliament passed four bills on Friday, including the National Accountability Amendment Bill 2021, Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill 2021 amidst protests from the opposition benches. It is pertinent to note that the government managed in getting through a record number of 33 bills, including the controversial bill on electronic voting machines (EVMs) and I-voting for overseas Pakistanis, despite facing resistance from the opposition. According to sources, the Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Higher Education Commission (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 were also passed during today’s session, during which the joint opposition raised slogans against the PTI government. The opposition demanded that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani forward the media protection bill, aimed at protecting journalists and media professionals, to the respective standing committee for vetting. Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari presented the media protection bill while Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem pre-
sented the NAB bill through a supplementary agenda. Mazari pointed out that it took a year to draft the bill, saying voting to approve it should be conducted to avoid any further delay. It is pertinent to note that both the bills were approved by the majority, while a six-member group led by Senator Dilawar Khan also voted in the government’s favour. The opposition agitated over the proceedings, surrounded the speaker’s dais, chanted slogans and tore up copies of the agenda. The session was later prorogued. However, Mazari congratu-
lated media persons on the passage of the journalist protection bill. “Today, a two-year struggle to provide a comprehensive journalist and media professionals protection law, drafted in consultation with journalists’ bodies, was finally realised through parliament,” she said. The minister said that President Arif Alvi will now sign the bill into law, and also thanked journalists and media professionals for “their valuable inputs and support”. “The bill reflects these inputs,” she said, adding that it was drafted with consensus. News Desk
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Clause related to chemical castration of rapists removed from bill: Maleeka Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Maleeka Bokhari, flanked by Law Minister Farogh Nasim revealed on Friday at a presser in Islamabad that the CII had objected to the punishment of chemical castration for rapists by calling it “unIslamic”. Bokhari further revealed that following the opposition, a clause providing for “chemical castration” of habitual rapists had been removed from the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the light of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). She went on to add that the clause was later omitted from the bill before its passage in Wednesday’s joint session of parliament, noting that “Article 227 of the Constitution also guaran-
tees that all laws must be under the Shariah and the Holy Quran, hence we cannot pass any law that goes against these values.” The MNA stated that the previous Anti-Rape law had flaws that hampered the provision of justice to victims, hence a new law had been introduced to ensure swift dispensation of justice, while adding that an anti-rape crisis cell would be set up in every district hospital for rapid medical examination of cases. She further stated that the government had promised to protect people’s rights and “it did so by introducing necessary legislation”. On the other hand, Law Minister Nasim explained that while EVMs and the conventional voting system were not flawless to
the core, analysis revealed that the former had facets that made electronic machines better than the old system. It is pertinent to note that the minister’s remarks came two days after the government managed to get a record number of 33 bills, including the controversial bill on EVMs and I-voting for overseas Pakistanis, passed from the joint sitting of parliament despite facing strong resistance from the opposition. “In the previous system, there were 10-15 weak areas to rig votes like double stamping, tearing of ballot paper or incorrect stamping. In contrast, an EVM is like a calculator and it goes live which is better than the earlier mechanism,” the minister stated. News Desk
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policy review, the central bank had increased the benchmark policy rate by 25 bps to 7.25pc. Furthermore, the SBP has also decided to increase the frequency of monetary policy reviews from six to eight times a year in an effort to make the process of monetary policy formulation more predictable and transparent in line with international best practices. Accordingly, the monetary policy meetings ahead would be held on December 14, and then January 24, March 8, April 19, and June 10 in 2022. The advance calendar for the next halfyear of MPC meetings will be shared at the time of the June 2022 MPC meeting. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PMLN) leader and former finance minister Miftah Ismail while reacting to the development termed the increase in interest rates catastrophic for the country’s economy. According to a report by The Express Tribune, Miftah said the rising interest
rates will only reduce industrial production and increase inconsequential government spending. “One and a half per cent rise in interest ratee will not have any impact on inflation, instead the private sector will face more difficulties and would slowdown, he said. Increasing it from 7 to 9 per cent would further increase the government’s interest payments by Rs400 billion annually,” the PML-N leader added. “The PTI government had tried to control inflation and depreciation of the rupee with similar measures in the past but because of that the economy fell further into recession,” he maintained. He questioned how inflation could be brought control by raising interest rates at such a fast pac? and claimed that the current account deficit (CAD) is set to reach an all-time high of $15 billion in October. “It is virtually impossible to stop further devaluation of the rupee, especially when imports of $75 billion are inevitable,” he said. News Desk