The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) kept the policy rate unchanged at 10.5%, according to multiple corroborated sources. Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), said the business community is disappointed with the monetary policy and that high borrowing costs continue to restrict access to finance for industry. The FPCCI had demanded a 500 basis point cut in the policy rate, though one source reported the FPCCI had instead demanded a 350 basis point cut. Core inflation has stabilised at around 5.0% for several months. Accounts differ on the policy rate level: while corroborated sources state it was maintained at 10.5%, other reports claim it was held at 12.0% or reduced by 1 percentage point. Some sources attribute additional statements to Sheikh, including that the decision was unfortunate, counterproductive, and that failure to ease borrowing costs would worsen an industrial crisis. One source reported that core inflation stood at 1.5% in February 2024 and another at 4.1% in December 2024. A separate report from nukta.com quoted Kamran Khan as saying the SBP’s decision reflects that Pakistan is not yet ready to stand independently without IMF-style constraints.