Real return calculator
What your savings really earn
Right now the State Bank's policy rate is 11.5% and inflation is 11.1%. Savings at the policy rate earn about +0.4% a year after inflation, before tax. Put in your own numbers.
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Your bank or National Savings rate sheet states it. Filers and non-filers pay different rates.Your real return
+0.4%
a year, after inflation
- After inflation, before tax
- +0.4%
- After tax, before inflation
- 11.5%
- After tax and inflation
- +0.4%
Rs 1 lakh grows to Rs 1.7 lakh in 5 years. In today’s money, that’s Rs 1 lakh.
Real return = (1 + return after tax) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. Not simple subtraction: 12% − 10% is 1.8%, not 2%.
Questions
- What is a real return?
- What your money earns after inflation: (1 + return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. It says whether your money buys more or less than before.
- What do savings earn after inflation in Pakistan right now?
- At the SBP policy rate of 11.5% and inflation of 11.1% (Aug 2026), about +0.4% a year before tax. Most bank accounts pay less than the policy rate, and tax is withheld on the profit.
- Why not just subtract inflation from the return?
- Because it overstates the result. 12% with 10% inflation is (1.12 ÷ 1.10) − 1 = 1.8%, not 2%. The gap grows as rates rise.
Rates: SBP (14 Sep 2026), National Savings/CDNS (Sep 2026), PBS (Aug 2026). Education, not advice.