Monetary Policy in a Developing Country: A Case of Pakistan

Abstract

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has to fulfil multiple objectives in Pakistan’s monetary policy. The choice of policy objectives is an old theme that acquired a renewed importance after the financial crisis of 2007–2009. Most of the textbooks do not discuss the debate around objectives, rather they discuss monetary policy objectives from the lens of a developing country. The choice of objectives should be seen in the context of the country’s overall level of economic development. With historical illustration of Pakistan during the 1970s and 1980s, the case has shown how the credit-starved sectors were helped through government-directed credit. With the opening of the trade and financial sector, the economic liberalization reforms increased the private sector’s role, and authorities adopted a more market-based approach towards monetary management. Various small businesses and entrepreneurs are faced with credit constraints. Private sector financial institutions cannot relax these credit constraints given their concern with creditworthiness, a condition that small businesses and entrepreneurs cannot satisfy. The SBP Act states that it has to pursue potentially conflicting goals of economic development and stable prices. The conflicting goals create tension in the case of whether SBP should control credit supply to various sectors of the economy or determine the cost of credit through interest rate targeting. It compares the two intermediate targets: monetary and interest rate. Finally, it also highlights the difficult trade-offs faced by policymakers in developing countries.