THE government raised Rs147.45bn from the auction of Market Treasury Bills of various tenors held last Thursday, missing its target of Rs150bn and also falling short of the received amount of Rs296.50bn.

Of the total, three month T-bill fetched Rs146.48bn at a cut off yield of 5.94pc, followed by six month T-bill with Rs971.20m at 5.94pc. Bids received for 12 months were rejected.

The central bank had received total bids worth Rs296.50bn: 3-month T-bill Rs224.23bn, followed by 6-month T-bill Rs70.38bn and 12-month T-bill Rs1.88bn.

Central bank pumped in Rs145bn into the banking system on December 15, in an open market operation, against an offered amount of Rs198.25bn. The injection was made in a one day contract at 5.82pc. Total amount offered at 5.82pc was Rs89,000m, out of which SBP accepted Rs65,750m on pro rata basis.

According to the weekly statement of position of all scheduled banks for the week ended December 2, deposits and other accounts of all scheduled banks stood at Rs10555.73bn after a 0.80pc increase over the preceding week’s figure of Rs10471.74bn. Compared with last year’s corresponding figure of Rs9200.56bn, the current week’s figure was higher by 14.73pc.

Central bank pumped in Rs145bn into the banking system on December 15, in an open market operation, against an offered amount of Rs198.25bn

Deposits and other accounts of all commercial banks stood at Rs10490.99bn against preceding week’s deposits of Rs10405.64bn, showing a rise of 0.82pc. Deposits and other accounts of specialised banks stood at Rs64.74bn, lower by 2.06pc against previous week’s figure of Rs66.09bn.

Borrowings by all scheduled banks increased in the week under review. It rose by 0.80pc to Rs1587.93bn against previous week’s Rs1575.28bn. Compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs1825.88bn, current week’s figure is lower by 13.03pc.

Borrowings by commercial banks in the week at Rs1509.11bn were higher by 0.78pc against previous week’s Rs1497. 33bn. Borrowings by specialised banks stood at Rs78.82bn against the previous week’s Rs77.95bn.

Investments of all scheduled banks stood at Rs7052.40bn against preceding week’s figure of Rs7053.15bn, showing a decrease of 0.01pc. Compared to last year’s corresponding figure of Rs6610.13bn, current week’s figure is higher by 6.70pc.

Investments by all commercial banks stood at Rs7001.08bn, lower by 0.02pc against preceding week’s figure of Rs7002.58bn, whereas investment by all specialised banks stood at Rs51.32bn against preceding week’s figure of Rs50.57bn.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, December 19th, 2016