THE government raised Rs97.257bn from the auction of Treasury bills of various tenors on February 18.

Of the total, 12-month T-bills fetched Rs43.538bn at a cut-off yield of 8.2947pc, followed by six-month T-bills with Rs35.787bn at 8.378pc and three-month T-bills with Rs17.932bn at 8.3707pc.

The central bank had received a large number of bids for the auction, totalling Rs254.602bn. Of this, six-month T-bills had attracted offers worth Rs118.586bn, followed by 12-month T-bills with Rs114.757bn and then three-month T-bills with Rs21.26bn.

On the other hand, the SBP continued its supply of liquidity to the banking system last week. In an open market operation in the seven-day contract conducted on Friday, the central bank injected Rs722.55bn into the system at a rate of return of 8pc.

According to the weekly statement of affairs of scheduled banks for the week ended February 6, gross advances stood at Rs4,452.856bn, down 0.2pc from the preceding week’s level of Rs4,461.51bn.

Advances by commercial banks fell to Rs4,311.22bn in the week, against the earlier week’s figure of Rs4,320.404bn, or by 0.21pc. Advances by specialised banks stood at Rs141.636bn in the week.

Twelve-month Treasury bills fetched the highest amount of Rs43.538bn during the latest T-bill auction

Investments of all scheduled banks stood at Rs5,534.735bn in the week under review, up 2.07pc from the preceding week’s figure of Rs5,422.406bn.

Investments of all commercial banks stood at Rs5,499.318bn in the week, against the preceding week’s figure of Rs5,386.86bn, showing a rise of 2.09pc. Investments of all specialised banks stood at Rs35.417bn in the week, against the preceding week’s figure of Rs35.546bn.

Total assets of all scheduled banks stood at Rs11,613.393bn in the week ending February 6, up 0.63pc over the preceding week’s figure of Rs11,540.703bn.

Total assets of all commercial banks stood at Rs11,421.898bn in the week, higher by 0.63pc over the previous week’s figure of Rs11,350.492bn. Total assets of all specialised banks stood at Rs191.495bn in the week, against the previous week’s Rs190.21bn.

Deposits and other accounts of all scheduled banks dipped 0.42pc to Rs8,428.142bn in the week under review, against the previous week’s figure of Rs8,463.711bn.

Deposits and other accounts of all commercial banks fell 0.43pc to Rs8,398.109bn in the week, against the preceding week’s figure of Rs8,434.344bn. Deposits and other accounts of all specialised banks stood at Rs30.033bn in the week.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, February 23rd , 2015

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