Partly Facetious: A bigger no to the Maulana...

ARTICLE: "So you reckon the Prime Minister will give him an appointment."

"No to Bilawal, no to Khawaja Asif, no to Zardari sahib, no to Shahbaz Sharif, a bigger no to the Maulana..."

"How much bigger is the no for the Maulana? I mean as things stand today and have for the past 22 months the no is pretty big for the others you mentioned and need I add applies to at least fifty or so others that you have not mentioned."

"Hmmm, I guess but I was talking about the Governor State Bank of Pakistan who reportedly committed to the Prime Minister before the May 2020 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that the discount rate would be 7 percent and then reneged on it..."

"I thought the Governor represents an autonomous entity so why does he need to see the Prime Minister? And...and it's a constitutional position for a period of..."

"How many governors have been able to stay in their position once the leadership wanted them out?"

"True anyway the press release issued maintained that "this decision reflected the MPC's view that the inflation outlook has improved further, while the domestic economic slowdown continues and downside risks to growth have increased. Against this backdrop of receding demand-side inflation risks, the priority of monetary policy has appropriately shifted toward supporting growth and employment during these challenging times."

"How very sanctimonious!? Inflation is down because no one is buying items other than essentials....and I am not sure whether the staff of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is actually checking on markets or just taking price control/subsidy directives of the Prime Minister as being implemented. We all know that prices once raised rarely come down, take petrol for example...."

"Right, but perhaps the MPC does not realize that the budget 2020-21 is contractionary which is anti-growth, that the IMF programme has already cautioned the SBP in its document dated April this year, post Covid 19, that inflation is still in the double digits and there is a need to remain vigilant of potential inflationary pressures arising from the rupee depreciation and supply side pressures. And that the regulatory measures and expanded refinancing schemes must be targeted and temporary and their design should not create moral hazard nor foster poor credit risk management practices."

"It's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't."

"Who told him the job would be easy."

"Not easy, but very prestigious."

"Indeed, however governors are like our elected prime ministers - few have completed their tenure during the past decade."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020