IN a surprising move, the central bank accepted a meagre Rs49.562bn worth of bids during the Pakistan Investment Bond auction conducted on October 22. However, this was close to its official target of Rs50bn for this auction.

Of the total, three-year PIBs fetched Rs20.388bn at a cut-off yield of 12.4803pc, followed by five-year PIBs with Rs19.734bn at 12.977pc and 10-year PIBs with Rs9.44bn at 13.4494pc.

The latest auction, like previous ones, attracted significant interest from banks, who have come to rely on the high-yielding securities for bulk of their core incomes.

The central bank received total bids worth Rs329.485bn — six times its target of Rs50bn. Of this, three-year PIBs had attracted bids for Rs249.642bn, followed by five-year PIBs with Rs50.803bn and 10-year PIBs with Rs29.04bn. No bids were received for 20-year PIBs.

The SBP raised Rs20.388bn from three-year PIBs in the latest auction, after receiving bids worth Rs249.642bn

According to the weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ending October 10, deposits and other accounts rose by 0.13pc to Rs8,012.111bn, against the prior week’s figure of Rs8,001.379bn.

Deposits and other accounts of all commercial banks rose by 0.13pc to Rs7,987.087bn, against the preceding week’s Rs7,976.3bn. Deposits and other accounts of all specialised banks stood at Rs25.025bn in the week, against the previous week’s Rs25.051bn.

Cash and balances with treasury banks of all scheduled banks increased by 1.5pc to Rs690.907bn during the week under review, against the earlier week’s Rs680.779bn.

Cash and balances with treasury banks of all commercial banks stood at Rs687.257bn in the week, against the preceding week’s Rs677.02bn. Cash and balances with treasury banks of all specialised banks stood at Rs3.65bn, against the preceding week’s Rs3.759bn.

Investments of all scheduled banks stood at Rs4,440.595bn in the week ending October 10, down 0.06pc from the preceding week’s figure of Rs4,443.4bn. Investments of all commercial banks stood at Rs4,409.352bn in the week, against the preceding week’s Rs4,410.971bn. Specialised banks’ investments stood at Rs31.243bn.

Gross advances of scheduled banks stood at Rs4,283.887bn in the week under review, down 0.08pc over the previous week’s figure of Rs4,287.252bn. Advances by commercial banks decreased to Rs4,149.168bn against the earlier week’s figure of Rs4,152.842bn, or by 0.09pc. Advances by specialised banks stood at Rs134.719bn in the week.

Total assets of all scheduled banks stood at Rs10,407.96bn in the week ending October 10, up 0.33pc over the preceding week’s Rs10,374.156bn. Total assets of all commercial banks stood at Rs10,226.352bn in the week, up 0.33pc over the previous week’s Rs10,193.096bn. Total assets of all specialised banks stood at Rs181.608bn in the week.

Borrowings by all scheduled banks rose by 2.85pc to Rs811.068bn in the week under review, against the earlier week’s Rs788.611bn. Borrowings by all commercial banks rose to Rs732.875bn in the week, against the previous week’s Rs710.418bn. Borrowings by specialised banks stood at Rs78.193bn in the week.

Other liabilities of all scheduled banks stood at Rs382.073bn in the week ending October 10.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, October 27th, 2014