KARACHI: The government raised significantly more than both its target and the amount of maturing Treasury Bills at Wednesday’s auction.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the government raised Rs232.46 billion through the auction and Rs354.25bn via non-competitive bids, for a total of Rs586.7bn.
The auction target was Rs400bn, while the T-bills maturing amounted to Rs435bn. This indicated the government’s growing need for liquidity.
The bidding pattern was mixed, with investors willing to park their liquidity in government papers for safe returns. The cumulative bids from banks and other corporates totalled Rs2.192 trillion.
Investors were willing to buy the T-bills, with the highest bid of Rs676bn for 12-month papers, and the government accepted Rs201bn. This was the highest amount the government accepted for any tenor in the auction.
The second-highest amount, Rs666.3bn, was offered for the three-month tenor, but the government raised only Rs19.46bn. The lowest amount accepted was Rs0.5bn for one-month papers, against bids totalling Rs494.7bn. The bids for benchmark six-month T-bills were Rs355.5bn, and the amount raised was Rs11bn.
The government raised a much lower amount than the banks were offering, reflecting higher liquidity that partially flowed into the private sector, and the sector’s borrowing improved in the 5th month of the current fiscal year.Shahid Iqbal