Inflation in Pakistan is expected to hover between 18.5% and 19.5% in April and ease in May to 17.5%-18.5%, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, aiming for a target range of 5%-7% by September next year.

Gross domestic product growth for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending in June is estimated at 1% and expected to improve in the second half of the fiscal year, it said in its monthly report.

Pakistan’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 22% for the seventh straight policy meeting on Monday, hours before the International Monetary Fund executive board approved $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan under a $3 billion standby arrangment signed last year.

The bank’s monetary policy committee said in a statement that it was “prudent” to continue with its monetary policy stance at this stage to bring inflation down to the target range.

It expects inflation to remain on a downward trajectory, but said that recent oil price volatility posed a risk. Consumers’ inflation expectations also edged up in April.

Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) for March was up 20.7% from the same month last year, the lowest reading in nearly two years and below the finance ministry’s projections for the month.