Govt raises Rs760bln via MTBs

KARACHI: The government on Wednesday raised Rs760 billion through the auction of market treasury bills, with the yields increasing on shorter tenor papers. The raised amount was lower than the pre-auction target of Rs850 billion.

The cut-off yield on the three-month paper rose seven basis points (bps) to 7.25 percent from 7.18 percent in the previous auction.

The yield on the six-month paper also increased by six bps to 7.55 percent from 7.49 percent.

However, bids of the 12-month paper were rejected by the government.

The central bank said it sold Rs241.6 billion worth of three-month paper and Rs518.2 billion of the six-month paper.

The participation behaviour of the latest auction showed investors heavily participated in the six-month paper. Earlier, in the previous auction, their participation was seen in the shortest tenor, three months T-bill.

Analysts said the recent auction showed investors expect the interest rates to remain stable in the near-term.