TLTP
\nKARACHI
\nThe coronavirus pandemic is a public health crisis and until it\u2019s addressed, there will most likely be economic hardships ahead, said Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir.
\nPakistan lifted a two-month-long national lockdown in early May. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s government is currently targeting outbreak hotspots in the country and locking down those areas again, because COVID-19 cases surged once the countrywide lockdown was eased.
\n\u201cWe are very concerned. First and foremost, this is a public health crisis \u2013 we have to remind ourselves of that,\u201d Baqir told CNBC in an interview. \u201cAnd, only on a secondary basis, then it becomes an economic crisis. Until the public health crisis is addressed, we should continue to expect challenges on the economic front,\u201d he added.
\nAccording to Baqir, prolonged national lockdowns are a \u201cluxury of the rich,\u201d while \u201cfor countries like Pakistan, the trade-off between lives and livelihood is a very real trade-off.\u201d
\nHe explained that Pakistan has many day labourers who earn daily wages, and that a lockdown would have abruptly cut off their only source of income. Without savings to dip into, many of those people would have been faced with starvation, he said.
\nTo help the economy weather the coronavirus crisis, the central bank has injected about $7 billion, or 2.5 percent of GDP into the economy, in terms of liquidity support to households and businesses. Last week, it also slashed the monetary policy rate by 100 basis points to seven percent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP KARACHI The coronavirus pandemic is a public health crisis and until it\u2019s addressed, there will most likely be economic hardships ahead, said Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir. Pakistan lifted a two-month-long national lockdown in early May. However, Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s government is currently targeting outbreak hotspots in the country and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-129946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n