Business Leader Malik Khuda Bakhsh Calls for 4-5% Interest Rate Cut to Boost Trade

Karachi: Malik Khuda Bakhsh, a core committee member of the United Business Group (UBG) and convener of the FPCCI Central Standing Committee, has appealed to Pakistan’s top leadership, including the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, and the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, to lower interest rates by 4 to 5 percent at the upcoming monetary policy meeting on November 4. He emphasized that such a reduction would stimulate both local and foreign trade, providing exporters and industrialists with a conducive environment for business.

According to United Business Group, Malik Khuda Bakhsh highlighted that the current 17.5 percent interest rate is restrictive for industrial and trade expansion, which is essential to counter inflation. Lowering interest rates, he argued, would attract new investors and support the government’s efforts, in partnership with the World Bank, to control inflation. Recent government statistics show that inflation was 6.9 percent in September and is expected to drop further to 6.3 percent in October, strengthening the case for a reduction in interest rates.

Bakhsh suggested that an initial cut of 4 to 5 percent in November, followed by another 5 percent reduction in December, could bring rates down to single digits, benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large-scale manufacturing. He noted that economic experts also support this approach, underscoring that lower rates are essential to maintain industrial momentum as inflation recedes.

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