The State Bank of Pakistan on Friday refuted the reports of an emergency meeting reported to be held for hiking the key policy rate.

The meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee will be held on September 14 as per schedule during which it will take stock of the economic developments and take appropriate decisions in the matter, the central bank said in a statement.

“The reports making rounds in media about holding of an emergency meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of SBP are completely baseless. Furthermore, it would be premature to forecast the future policy rate as only the MPC, which is an independent statutory body, is empowered to decide about the policy rate, the SBP added.

Earlier, reports circulated that the SBP was likely to hike interest rates by as much as 300 points to 25.

Although the meetings follow an announced schedule, emergency meetings have also been called in the past in extraordinary situations.

The rate currently stands at 22% which was announced on June 26 this year. The rate is the highest in the country’s history. The last meeting of the MPC was held on July 31 when the interest rates were kept unchanged.

Controlling the interest rate is a key measure that the SBP can use to control how much money is being spent in the economy. Hiking the rate often leads to people keeping more money in banks instead of withdrawing it, thereby decreasing inflationary pressures.

However, a recent report had quoted experts to say that merely changing the interest rate might not be enough to counter inflationary pressures.