September 18, 2006	Monday	Sha'aban 24, 1427

AT the auction on September 13, the State Bank of Pakistan sold Rs16.963 billion of three-month, Rs1.437 billion of six-month bills and Rs1.387 billion of 12-month Treasury bills. The bank received the total bids worth Rs35.912 billion, against a pre-auction target of Rs20 billion. The cut-off yield on three-month, six-month and 12-month bills remained unchanged.

According to the weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ended August 26, 2006, deposits and other accounts of the scheduled banks stood at Rs2,806.645 billion, lower by Rs1.769 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs2,808.414 billon. Commercial banks deposits showed a decrease of Rs1.651 billion over the week to Rs2,794.470 billion, against preceding week’s Rs2,796.121 billion, while of specialized banks it fell by Rs0.118 billion to Rs12.176 billion, over previous week’s Rs12.294 billion.

Borrowings by all scheduled banks increased during the week over preceding the week’s figure. It fell to Rs369.875 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs375.822 billion, a fall of Rs5.947 billion. This was primarily due to a fall in the borrowings by commercial banks, which fell to Rs282.120 billion against previous week’s Rs290.580 billion, or by Rs8.46 billion, while borrowings by specialised banks stood at Rs87.755 billion.

Gross advances stood at Rs2,189.368 billion in the week under review, a fall of Rs6.366 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs2,195.734 billion. Advances by commercial banks fell to Rs2,093.223 billion against earlier week’s figure of Rs2,100.384 billion, smaller by Rs7.161 billion, while of specialized banks it stood at Rs96.145 billion.

Investments of all scheduled banks declined in the week by Rs2.292 billion to Rs799.285 billion against preceding week’s figure of Rs804.577 billion. Commercial banks investment decreased to Rs785.874 billion, from earlier week’s Rs790.695 billion, smaller by Rs4.821 billion, while of specialized banks it stood at Rs13.411 billion against previous week’s Rs13.883 billion, smaller by Rs0.472 billion.

Cash and balances with treasury banks of all scheduled banks decreased by Rs29.472 billion during the week to stand at Rs293.350 billion against earlier week’s Rs322.822 billion. The figure for commercial banks also fell to Rs291.325 billion against preceding week’s figure of Rs320.559 billion, a fall of Rs292.234 billion. For specialized banks there was a decrease of Rs0.238 billion to Rs2.025 billion, against earlier week’s figure of Rs2.263 billion.

Total assets of scheduled banks stood at Rs3,734.647 billion, lower by Rs11.77 billion, over preceding week’s figure of Rs3,741.373 billion. Meanwhile, commercial banks assets stood at Rs3,619.883 billion, lower by Rs14.019 billion over previous week’s figure of Rs3,633.907 billion. Specialized banks assets fell by Rs2.249 billion to Rs114.759 billion against previous week’s Rs112.510 billion.