KARACHI: The change in the political scene did not improve the sentiment on the currency market as the dollar appreciated further by over Rs3 in the interbank market on Wednesday.

However, currency dealers in the banking market said the change of guards in Punjab could mean “something positive has come for the market”.

The dollar posted a gain of Rs3.09 day-on-day at Rs236.02.

“It may take time to understand the change. Political stability is required but the one side looks set to start a movement against the winning party. This is the uncertainty,” said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the interbank market. In the open market, the dollar was traded at Rs241 against Rs239 on Tuesday.

T-bills’ auction

The government on Wednesday raised Rs1,007 billion through auction of market treasury bills against the target of Rs650bn. The State Bank of Pakistan reported on Wednesday that the government did not change the cut-off yields while it raised the highest amount for short term three-month T-bills.

The government raised Rs849.3bn for three-month T-bills at the rate of 15.75 per cent while Rs24.5bn was raised for 6-month at the rate of 15.80 per cent. The highest return on 12-month t-bills was also remained unchanged at 15.94 per cent while Rs35.82 was raised.

The government received the highest bids of Rs1494.3bn for short term 3-month t-bills while the total bids were Rs1847bn. The government also raised Rs96.9bn as non-competitive bids.

Meanwhile, the government raised Rs92.57bn through auction of Pakistan Investment Bonds including Rs52.12bn for two years and Rs39.25bn for three

years while it also raised Rs1.196bn as non-competitive bids.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2022