We feel that the reaction of the FPCCI, which is a very powerful and organised lobby of business and industry in the country, is neither unexpected nor surprising. They have always voiced concern and unease whenever the SBP policy rate to tame inflation and reduce current account (C/A) deficit by making the rupee holdings more attractive than investment in other currencies. Another advantage of maintaining high interest rates in the country this time has been an investment of over dollar 2 billion in Treasury Bills (T-Bills) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) made by investors mainly form the US and the UK which has not only bolstered foreign exchange reserves of the country but has added liquidity to the economy and served to increase the credit potential of the banks and reduce the interest rates on PIBs and T-Bills, benefitting the government in its debt servicing liability. So far as the claim of the business community that tightening of the policy rate has not helped to tame inflation is concerned, such a claim is totally unfounded and has been rejected all over the world. Policy rate has always been the main instrument of credit control at the disposal of central banks and is used frequently to reduce the growth of money supply and suppress demand in the economy to control inflation. There is no point or space in these columns to discuss this assertion thoroughly but to argue otherwise would be contrary to the obvious and a waste of time. In this newspaper's view, it should be obvious to the FPCCI that the level of inflation in the country due to massive devaluation of the rupee, sharp increase in administered prices like electricity and gas, reduced imports and a low growth rate would have been much higher if the SBP had not taken timely action to hike the policy rate in order to contain inflationary pressures in the economy. In addition, whenever the business community refers to the low interest rates in other countries of the world, they forget the inflation rate in those countries to arrive at the real interest rates which are more important for savings' point of view. Incidentally, to justify its present policy stance, the SBP in its latest monetary policy statement (MPS) has said very clearly that "the MPC noted that the real interest rates on a forward-looking basis were not high compared to other emerging markets and from the perspective of Pakistan's own experience." The FPCCI should feel satisfied by this policy statement and also recognise the fact that members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are highly qualified to do their job and equally patriotic to look after the interests of all the segments of society, including the ordinary households, who deposit their savings in banks in the hope that the purchasing power of their savings will not be eroded overtime because of lower interest rates.