January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 16: The cut-off yield on 6-month treasury bills rose at an auction on Wednesday to 9.2962 per cent from 9.2523 per cent, State Bank of Pakistan said.

The weighted average annual yield on the 6-month paper also came at 9.2962 per cent, up from 9.2523 per cent on the previous sale on January 2, the central bank said.

The cut-off yields on the 12-month paper came at 9.4951 per cent, up from 9.4451 per cent and average weighted yields rose to 9.4493 per cent from 9.4371 per cent at the previous auction.

The central bank did not receive any bids for its three-month bill.

“Participation was very low as expected because everyone is waiting for the monetary policy which will give a clearer view,” said a brokerage house dealer.

The central bank is expected to announce monetary policy for the first half of 2008 on January 29.

The central bank said it sold Rs286.71 million worth of 6-month and Rs6.76bn of 12-month, after receiving total bids of Rs9.78bn.

It had set a combined pre-auction target of Rs35bn.

Settlement of the auction will take place on Thursday.

In the short-term money market, rates remained firm at top levels on Tuesday amid a lack of cash inflows, dealers said.

Overnight call rates ended at 9.9 per cent, unchanged from Tuesday’s close, and just below the 10.0 per cent discount rate.

In the currency market, the rupee closed at Rs62.52/55 to the dollar, slightly weaker than Tuesday’s close of Rs62.50/55.

—Reuters