The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday decided to cut the policy rate by two per cent.

This State Bank of Pakistan’s decision has brought down the interest rate to a single digit of nine percent.

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On March 25 last, the State Bank had announced a 1.5 percent cut in the interest rate, reducing it to 11 percent, claiming the decision was taken due to the “uncertainty” over the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The central bank said the measure—taken nearly a week after it cut the policy rate to 12.5 percent—was aimed “to facilitate businesses and exporters who seek loans frequently from commercial banks to run their businesses.”

It had said that the coronavirus outbreak had hit several industries and this was designed to help them.