July 18, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 21, 1427

KARACHI, July 17: The State Bank on Monday announced that it would sell three-, six- and 12-month treasury bills worth Rs30bn on Wednesday.

The huge amount is unexpected for some analysts while others believe that the government would continue to rely on borrowings from banks to meet its expansionary plans.

This auction will also be the last before the announcement of monetary policy, which is likely in the last week of this month, while it is the first after the launching of National Credit Plan.

“The Rs30bn target of T-bill auction looks high but the market has enough liquidity to absorb this target,” said an analyst.

The analyst said that the market would response positively and may offer higher than the target set by the SBP.