Banking and Monetary Policy
The State Bank of Pakistan sets the policy rate, the benchmark that influences what banks charge borrowers and pay savers. When the policy rate rises, loans and credit cards get more expensive but deposit returns improve; when it falls, borrowing gets cheaper. The State Bank reviews this rate on a published schedule through its Monetary Policy Committee.
Conventional and Islamic banking
Pakistan runs a dual banking system. Conventional banks pay and charge interest, while Islamic banks operate on profit-and-loss sharing and asset-backed structures that avoid riba. Most large banks now offer both, through dedicated Islamic branches or windows.
What you will find here
Monetary policy decisions and the reasoning behind them, bank financial results, changes to account and remittance rules, digital banking and branchless payment developments, and practical guidance on what rate changes mean if you hold a loan or a savings account.