KARACHI: The cut-off yields on treasury bills were slightly reduced by up to five basis points in the auction held on Wednesday but the amount raised exceeded the target.

The government raised Rs592 billion through the auction of three-, six- and 12-month T-bills while the target was Rs500bn. However, the maturity was even lower at Rs326bn.

The overall government borrowing from banks during the first seven months of the current fiscal year plunged by 65.7 per cent to Rs292.7bn compared to Rs853.6bn in the same period last year.

This year so far, the government kept its bank borrowing on the lower side which helped the private sector to borrow record high from the banks.

However, the non-bank sector is actively participating in the auction of securities enabling the government to borrow while keeping the banks liquid at the same time.

The return on the three-month T-bills remained unchanged as the government accepted Rs256.1bn at 10.30pc.

An amount of Rs172.6bn was raised for six-month with a cut-off yield at 10.66pc, a fall of three basis points over the last auction held on Jan 26.

The government lowered the cut-off yield on 12-month papers by 5bps and raised just Rs81.4bn.

It also raised Rs83bn through non-competitive bids making the total Rs592.26bn.

The government also raised Rs149bn through auction of Pakistan Investment Bonds. It raised Rs42bn for two years and Rs106.5bn for three years. An amount of Rs750 million was raised as non-competitive bids.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2022