SBP sells MTBs worth Rs84 billion

KARACHI: The central bank on Wednesday sold market treasury bills (MTBs) worth Rs84 billion at an auction as the yield on short-term papers remained unchanged.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has raised less than the target of Rs150 billion set by the government for the auction.   

Analysts said the government borrows money from banks through treasury bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds to finance its budget deficit.

An analyst said it seems that government has less appetite for long-term borrowings from the market as it rejected all the bids worth Rs14 billion for one-year papers. 

The SBP received the bids worth Rs168.5 billion, but it rejected almost half of these.

The analyst said the unchanged yields on the benchmark six-month papers indicate no downward revision in the interest rates in the near future.  

The yield on the benchmark six-month papers remained steady at 6.3933 percent. The central bank sold Rs64.673 billion worth of six-month papers in the auction. 

The cut-off yield for three-month treasury bills also remained flat at 6.3946 percent. The bank sold three-month MTBs worth Rs19.382 billion.