SBP governor updates foreign investors on Pakistan’s ‘improving macroeconomic outlook’

State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad reaffirmed the country’s “improving macroeconomic stability” and outlook during high-level meetings with senior executives from global financial and investment institutions, a SBP statement said on Saturday.

The institutions included JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, Deutsche, Jefferies, and major credit rating agencies. The engagements took place on the sidelines of the IMF–World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.

“Governor Ahmad briefed participants on the tangible progress Pakistan has made in stabilising its economy. He highlighted that a prudent monetary policy, combined with sustained fiscal consolidation efforts, has led to macroeconomic stability in the country,” SBP statement read.

Ahmad highlighted that headline inflation declined sharply over the past two years, reaching a multi-decade low of 0.7% in March 2025.

“Moreover, core inflation has also come down significantly from above 22% to a single-digit and is expected to moderate further in the coming months. Going forward, headline inflation is expected to stabilise within its target range of 5 to 7%,” he said.

Regarding the external account, SBP governor informed that Pakistan’s foreign exchange (FX) buffers registered a “substantial qualitative as well as quantitative improvement”.

Pakistan receives record $4.1bn in remittances in March, says SBP governor

“SBP’s FX reserves have more than tripled since bottoming out in February 2023, whereas its forward liabilities have also reduced significantly.”

Ahmad was of the view that unlike previous episodes of reserve build-up, the ongoing rise in external buffers was not due to any further accumulation of external debt.

“In fact, Pakistan’s public sector external debt, both in absolute terms and as a percent of GDP [gross domestic product], has declined since June 2022.”

He emphasised that improvement reflected “SBP’s policy focus on building the economy’s resilience against external shocks, including the ongoing trade-related global uncertainty”.

SBP governor explained that SBP had been able to build the FX buffers through FX purchases amidst a surplus in the external current account. He also shared that the central bank was targeting to increase FX reserves to $14 billion by June 2025.

“Governor SBP highlighted that as the economic conditions have stabilised, Pakistan’s GDP growth is gradually recovering and expected to be around 3% during FY25. He pointed out that the improvements in the country’s economy have also been recognised by international credit ratings agencies,” the statement read.

SBP governor urges banks to prioritise SME lending

SBP governor shared that the focus of policymakers remained to preserve the macroeconomic stability and undertaking structural reforms across different sectors of the economy.

He was hopeful that with continued progress on the reform agenda, Pakistan would be able to achieve sustainable economic growth and socioeconomic uplift.