Govt raises Rs467bn via MTBs' sale

KARACHI: The government on Wednesday raised Rs467 billion through the auction of Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) against the target of Rs550 billion.

The yields on shorter and longer duration T-bills remained unchanged, the auction result showed. The cut-off yield on the three-month T-bill stood at 15.75 percent, unchanged from the previous auction held on July 27. The yield on the six-month paper stayed flat at 15.80 percent and the yield on the 12-month paper was 15.94 percent, unchanged from the previous auction.

Analysts said the latest result shows that the investors expect stability in the interest rates in the coming policy reviews on the back of the likelihood of the revival of the International Monetary Fund programme, narrowing current account deficit, recovery in the rupee, and slowdown of the economic growth.

However, some analysts believe the State Bank of Pakistan to hike interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting due on August 22 to combat soaring inflation.

The SBP raised its policy rate by 125 basis points to 15 percent on July 7. The inflation is expected to remain close to the SBP forecast of 18-20 percent this fiscal year owing to adjustments in energy tariffs, currency devaluation, and rising food inflation. However, the year-on-year consumer price index inflation is likely to peak in August in the range of 25-28 percent and start falling from September onwards, according to analysts. The interest rates are expected to come down from the second half of the current fiscal year.