Samina Fazil backs SM Tanveer’s pro-growth policy stance.
SBP urged to align monetary policy with falling inflation.
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Founder President of the Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) and United Business Group leader Samina Fazil has called on business organizations to jointly demand a reduction in the policy rate to six percent, warning that the current 11 percent benchmark rate is hampering economic recovery despite a steep decline in inflation.
In a statement issued ahead of the State Bank of Pakistan’s monetary policy announcement due on July 30, she argued that prevailing economic indicators provide a clear case for aggressive monetary easing. Pakistan’s headline inflation dropped to 3.2 percent in June from 3.5 percent in May, while monthly CPI growth slowed to just 0.3 percent—figures that sharply contrast with the SBP’s continued tight stance.
Fazil cautioned that maintaining high real interest rates—currently over 7.8 percentage points above inflation—is damaging business confidence, suppressing private investment, and eroding Pakistan’s export competitiveness. She stressed that a reduction in the policy rate to six percent would significantly lower borrowing costs, activate idle industrial capacity, and attract fresh investment in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
She added that a sharp rate cut could yield substantial fiscal savings for the federal government. Based on current debt structures, a 500 basis point reduction could lower annual debt servicing costs by as much as Rs 3.5 trillion—equivalent to nearly 8 to 10 percent of total federal spending. Fazil noted that such savings could support public welfare programs, reduce the fiscal deficit, and fund targeted subsidies for low-income households.
She credited the یو بی جی’s strong and consistent advocacy for economic reforms to the leadership of Patron-in-Chief SM Tanveer, whose growth-oriented vision has shaped the group’s stance on monetary and fiscal policy. Fazil emphasized that the unity shown by regional leaders has strengthened the group’s influence as a serious platform for pragmatic policy solutions.
The previous meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on June 16 kept the rate unchanged at 11 percent, citing external vulnerabilities and inflation expectations. However, Fazil pointed out that recent data shows a sustained trend of disinflation and urged the SBP to align its stance with evolving ground realities.
With the July 30 decision imminent, she urged trade bodies and chambers across Pakistan to adopt a unified position in support of monetary easing. She expressed confidence that consistent and credible pressure from the business community can help steer the central bank toward a more balanced and growth-oriented policy path. She further noted that SM Tanveer has emerged as a respected and visionary voice in Pakistan’s business community, advocating reforms rooted in practical economic insight and industrial revival.
