KARACHI, July 30: The cut-off yield on 3-month Treasury bills rose at an auction on Wednesday to 12.1954 per cent from 11.7825 per cent previously, the State Bank of Pakistan said.

The weighted average yield on the 3-month paper came at 12.1688 per cent, up from 11.6528 per cent in the previous auction on July 16, the SBP said.

The central bank received no bids for the 6-month paper in the auction held on Wednesday and it also received no bids in the last auction on July 16. The SBP said it rejected all bids for 12-month T-bills.

It was the first T-bill auction since the State Bank increased its key discount rate to 13 per cent from 12 per cent on Tuesday, and the third T-bill auction in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The bank said it sold Rs39.95 billion of the 3-month paper, after receiving total bids of Rs99.3 billion.

It had a pre-combined auction target of Rs50 billion. Settlement will take place on Thursday.

In the currency market, dealers said the rupee ended at 71.50/60 to the dollar, down from Tuesday’s close of 71.45/50.

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