THE government rejected all bids received for the auction of Pakistan Investment Bonds of various tenors on May 18.

At the current auction, bids received were of a value of Rs83.650bn. Three year bonds attracted the highest amount of Rs44.772bn, followed by five year bonds with Rs27.696bn, and 10 year bonds Rs11.180bn. No bids were received for 20 year bonds.

According to the weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ended May 6, 2016, deposits and other accounts of all scheduled banks decreased 1.02pc to Rs9667.623bn over the preceding week’s Rs9,767.624bn. Compared with last year’s corresponding figure of Rs8,708.097bn, it was higher by 11.02pc.

Deposits and other accounts of all commercial banks also declined by 1.03pc to Rs9,628.808bn over the previous week’s Rs9,728.730bn.

Total assets of all scheduled banks dipped 0.67pc to Rs13,431.807bn, from Rs13,522.977bn a week ago. It was higher by 11.43pc compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs12,054.008bn.

The combined assets of all commercial banks declined 0.68pc to Rs13,224.329bn from Rs13,315.586bn in the previous week.

Gross advances of all scheduled banks fell 0.06pc to Rs4,957.680bn from Rs4,960.893bn in the preceding week. Compared with last year’s corresponding figure of Rs4,486.877bn, it was higher by 10.50pc.

Advances by all commercial banks increased to Rs4,795.884bn from Rs4,798. 940bn.

Borrowings by all scheduled banks decreased 1.32pc to Rs1,717.249bn over the previous week’s Rs1,740.211bn. Compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs1,344.226bn, it was higher by 27.75pc.

Borrowings by commercial banks also declined in the week to Rs1,639.324bn against previous week’s Rs1662.335bn.

Investments of all scheduled banks stood at Rs6822.661bn, against preceding week’s figure of Rs6822.193bn, a rise of 0.007pc. Compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs5751.781bn, current week’s figure is higher by 18.62pc.

Investments by all commercial banks stood at Rs6798.338bn, against preceding week’s figure of Rs6797.682bn, an increase of 0.01pc. Compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs5728.240bn, current week’s figure is higher by 18.68pc.

Cash and balances with treasury banks of all scheduled banks decreased over the week and stood at Rs742.304bn against previous week’s Rs801.362bn, showing a decline of 7.37pc.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, March 23rd, 2016