The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has revised the rates of specialised lending schemes in accordance with its increased monetary policy rate of 16 per cent.
SBP said it had decided to reduce the gap between its policy rate and the Export Finance Scheme (EFS) and Long-Term Financing Facility (LTFF) rates from the existing 5 per cent to 3 per cent, according to a circular released by the central bank.
The notification stated that the revised tariffs will be effective from December 30, 2022.
“Further, as mentioned in above referred circular, in [the] future with any change in the SBP policy rate, markup rates for EFS and LTFF will be revised automatically so that the gap between [the] policy rate and EFS & LTFF rates is maintained at 3 per cent,” the central bank added.
Exporters and industrialists, who are already feeling the strain of strong inflationary pressures together with record increases in energy costs, are anticipated to see a rise in the cost of doing business as a result of higher financing rates.
