State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad has apprised senior executives of various global financial and investment institutions of Pakistan’s improving macroeconomic outlook, stressing the country is ready for a revival in investment and economic growth.
IN various meetings with institutions such as JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, Jefferies, Barclays, Citibank, Bank of America Securities, and major credit rating agencies on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C., he highlighted that a prudent monetary policy, combined with sustained fiscal consolidation efforts, has led to macroeconomic stability in the country.
According to Ahmad, headline inflation has declined sharply over the past two years, reaching 5.6% in September 2025. Core inflation has similarly reduced from over 22% to less than 8%, with expectations of further moderation in the coming months. Notwithstanding the impact of the recent floods, the SBP expects headline inflation to stabilize within its target range of 5-7% in the medium term.
On the external account, the governor said Pakistan’s foreign exchange buffers had improved both qualitatively and quantitatively. He said the SBP has improved the stability and transparency of the FX market through structural reforms in exchange companies and promotion of remittances through formal channels. The stability of the FX market, he said, allowed, the SBP to strategically purchase $20 billion from the interbank market during the last three years to build its FX reserves, increasing them around five times from their February 2023 position. The SBP’s forward liabilities have also reduced significantly, he said, noting the public sector external debt had increased only marginally since June 2022. He emphasized this improvement reflects the SBP’s policy focus on building FX buffers to withstand external shocks, adding it aims to increase reserves to $17.5 billion by June 2026.
Ahmed’s briefing noted economic growth is recovering, reaching 3% during FY25. He admitted this year’s floods had somewhat moderated the overall growth outlook for FY26, but the real GDP growth for FY26 is expected to remain higher than FY25 and within the projected range of 3.25-4.25%.
The SBP governor updated the global institutions on the SBP’s progress in achieving objectives of its five-year Strategic Plan—Vision 2028. He noted improvements in areas like financial stability and inclusion, and in addressing gaps in financial service delivery, especially for traditionally underserved segments like small and medium enterprises and women.
On his overall macroeconomic assessment, Ahmad said results of tough yet necessary policy and regulatory changes were materializing in the form of contained inflation and current account deficit and a more sustainable pickup in economic growth. This, he said, has enabled the government to undertake necessary structural reforms to address longstanding bottlenecks straining sustained high economic growth. He hoped that ongoing progress on the reform agenda, supported by continued engagement with multilateral development partners like the IMF and World Bank, would facilitate Pakistan achieving sustainable growth and socioeconomic uplift for its people.