Govt raises Rs1.3tr via T-bills

KARACHI: The government has raised Rs1.399 trillion through an auction of the Market Treasury Bill (T-bills), with the yields on 6 and 12 months papers increasing slightly, a statement said on Wednesday.

The raised amount was lower than the pre-auction target of Rs1.500 trillion, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.

The cut-off yield on the three-month T-bill remained unchanged at 16 percent. The yield on the six-month paper increased by 15 basis points (bps) to 16 percent, while the cut-off yield on the six-month paper inched up by 1 bps to 15.99 percent.

Analysts said supply disruptions due to the floods were expected to drive upwards prices of food items like vegetables, pulses, milk, eggs, and meat.

“We have revised our headline inflation expectations for FY2023 to 24 percent, incorporating the impact of the temporary surge in food prices between September to December. Additionally, our forecast also includes the impact of the increase in petroleum levy, tariff adjustments, the respite in international oil prices, and rupee devaluation,” said Taurus Securities in a report.

“Moreover, in terms of interest rates, we do not anticipate further hikes as the factors expected to drive headline inflation going forward seem mostly to be supply driven,” it said.

Hiking interest rates might only compromise growth rather than contain inflation. However, pressure on PKR owing to a strengthening USD and persistent macroeconomic and political uncertainty might provide an impetus for hikes, it added.

The SBP has kept the policy rate unchanged at 15 percent last month.