KARACHI, July 24: Short-term money rates ease on Thursday amid increased inflows and as the central bank rejected all bids for Treasury bills in a two-day repo, dealers said.

Overnight call rates ended at 7 per cent, down from Wednesday’s close of 11.5 per cent.

“There was an inflow of Rs8.7 billion and the State Bank of Pakistan conducted a repo but rejected all the bids, so the market remained liquid,” said a brokerage house dealer.

Dealers said about Rs2 billion were scheduled for Saturday and Rs71 billion for July 31 from maturing government securities.

In the currency market, dealers said the rupee ended at 70.90/95 to the dollar, slightly weaker than Wednesday’s close of 70.82/87 as dealers said there were some import payments.

Dealers expect the rupee to remain stable in the short term but are uncertain about the medium to long term.

There has been pressure on the rupee because of increased dollar demand from importers in recent months.—Reuters