The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

Barrister Gohar, Chairman of the PTI, has claimed that the party’s founder has suspended negotiations, emphasizing that the government should declare the commission within seven days.

He emphasized the PTI’s openness to rethink if the government makes headway and establishes the commission.

Barrister Gohar told the reporters, “Seven days were enough to announce the commission.” We are ready to reconsider, but the government must first announce the commission.”

He stated that the PTI approached the negotiations with an open mind. “The PTI founder has halted the negotiations. “The government had eight laws on their agenda, while we only had two demands,” he stated.

The PTI chairman went on to say that even after seven days, no progress had been made in forming the commission. He encouraged the government to reconsider the decision and proceed with the announcement.

In response to the petitions for acquittal filed by Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan, the founders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court on Thursday sent notifications to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other parties.

Hearing the applications was Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas of the IHC. The judge said that there is no legal precedent for halting criminal proceedings at this point when Salman Safdar, Imran Khan’s attorney, requested a stay order on the trial in the Toshakhana-2 case during the hearing.

The court would also hear the other party and send notices regarding the petition, Justice Minhas noted.

Since Justice Gul Hassan Aurangzeb had previously heard five petitions pertaining to this case, Safdar later also filed a motion to transfer the case to another bench, stating that it would be proper to send the acquittal petitions to him for additional hearing.

According to Justice Minhas, who dismissed his plea, the petitions considered by Justice Aurangzeb were bail requests. This was a different issue, he remarked, and he would consider the case. He gave the attorney instructions to argue the case’s merits.

The PTI lawyer later pleaded the high court to halt proceedings of the trial court. The judge replied that suspects had already been indicted, and witnesses were testifying.

He noted that it would not be appropriate to issue any such order at this stage, adding that he would issue notices and the case would not be adjourned for a long period.

The court then issued a notice to the FIA and adjourned the hearing until Jan 28.