KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) maintained its upward trajectory on last day of the week – Friday.
The bullish trend is said to be the result of positive economic indicators and recent cut in policy rate announced by the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
On Friday, the benchmark KSE-100 index soared to 93,140 after an increase of more than 600 points.
A day earlier, it closed at 92,520 points.
US CURRENCY
A slight depreciation was recorded in US dollar against rupee as it stood at 277.80 on Friday after depreciating by Rs0.15.
NEW POLICY RATE
The State Bank of Pakistan’s committee on Monday cut the policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent. The new rate was effective from Nov 5.
The committee noted that inflation had declined faster than expected and reached close to its medium-term target range in October.
It assessed that the tight monetary policy stance continued to play an important role in sustaining the downward trend in inflation. Meanwhile, the approval of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) by the International Monetary Fund reduced uncertainty in the country and improved forex reserves.
Pakistan is also set to have a meeting with the IMF for climate financing worth $1 billion.
Sources say the IMF mission will review the economic performance and budgetary targets achieved by the government after the Staff-Level Agreement.