July 15, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1424

KARACHI, July 14: The State Bank of Pakistan mopped up Rs13.50 billion through an open market operation on Monday, but overnight rates stayed low despite the outflow, dealers said.

The central bank received Rs32.5 billion worth of bids from banks for its one-week Treasury bills, the SBP said in a statement.

But the bank accepted only Rs13.50 billion in bids at 0.59 per cent interest, leaving the market liquid.

Dealers said the outflow did not have any significant impact on overnight rates, which remained pegged at recent lows of 0.50 per cent.

“The market still has surplus liquidity even after the open market operation,” said a dealer. “We estimate the market has excess liquidity of Rs10 billion to Rs12 billion.”

Dealers said they expected rates to remain soft in the near-term.—Reuters