New decision about petroleum products have now been effective for next 15 days

Monetary Policy Committee says external account has continued to improve, as reflected by the build-up in SBP’s FX reserves despite substantial repayments of debt and other obligations.

The sources say that the IMF told Pakistan to abolish the sales tax exemptions on all goods including petrol.

The Monetary Policy Committee says a sequential ease in inflation expectations of both consumers and businesses from their recent peaks.

The finance minister says IMF should not object to presenting a people-friendly budget.

Announcing the new prices, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar says per litre price of petrol has been slashed by 8 rupees while that of High Speed Diesel by 5 rupees.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar appeals transporters to reduce fares after decrease in the POL prices.

The MPC has noted that inflation in March 2023 rose further to 35.4 percent, and is expected to remain high in the near term.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman has tweeted that it seems again Sec 144 has been imposed illegally solely on PTI election campaign as all other public activities are ongoing in Lahore and only Zaman Park has been surrounded by containers & heavy police contingent.

Governor State Bank Jameel Ahmed has said that the decision to increase interest rate has been made to overcome inflation in the country.