On August 19, the State Bank of Pakistan bought back Rs25.95 billion of Treasury Bills under four-day reverse repo contracts at 12.45 per cent to inject liquidity into a tight money market.

According to the weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ended August 9, 2008, deposits and other accounts of the scheduled banks stood at Rs3,779.580 billion, smaller by Rs4.313 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs3,783.893 billion. Commercial banks deposits showed a fall of Rs3.787 billion over the week to Rs3,768.069 billion, against preceding week’s Rs3,771.856 billion. Specialised banks deposits stood at Rs11.511 billion, against preceding week’s Rs12.036 billion, a fall of Rs0.525 billion.

Borrowings by all scheduled banks decreased further during the week over preceding week’s figure. It fell to Rs376.752 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs378.862 billion, a fall of Rs2.11 billion. This was due to a fall in the borrowings by commercial banks, which fell to Rs295.330 billion against previous week’s Rs297.355 billion, or by Rs2.025 billion. Borrowings by specialised banks stood at Rs81.422 billion, against preceding week’s figure of Rs81.407 billion.

Gross advances stood at Rs2,853.244 billion in the week under review, a rise of Rs0.389 billion over preceding week’s figure of Rs2,852.855 billion. Advances by commercial banks fell to Rs2,754.232 billion against earlier week’s figure of Rs2,754.250 billion, or by Rs0.018 billion. Advances of specialised banks stood at Rs99.012 billion, higher by Rs0.407 billion over earlier week’s figure of Rs98.605 billion.

Investments of all scheduled banks decreased in the week by Rs7.905 billion to Rs1,058.501 billion against preceding week’s figure of Rs1,066.406 billion. Commercial banks investment fell to Rs1,044.851 billion, from earlier week’s Rs1,052.154 billion, or by Rs7.303 billion. Specialized banks investment stood at Rs13.650 billion, against preceding week’s Rs14.252 billion, smaller by Rs0.602 billion.

Cash and balances with treasury banks of all scheduled banks decreased by Rs4.066 billion during the week to stand at Rs439.024 billion against earlier week’s Rs443.090 billion. The figure for commercial banks stood at Rs436.153 billion against preceding week’s figure of Rs440.078 billion, a fall of Rs3.925 billion, while of specialised banks it stood at Rs2.871 billion over previous week’s Rs3.012 billion.

Total assets of scheduled banks stood at Rs5,012.704 billion, smaller by Rs7.278 billion, over preceding week’s figure of Rs5,019.982 billion. Meanwhile, commercial banks assets stood at Rs4,885.952 billion, smaller by Rs6.867 billion over previous week’s figure of Rs4,892.819 billion.

Specialised banks assets fell to Rs126.752 billion, or by Rs0.411 billion over previous week’s Rs127.163 billion.