KARACHI, Oct 29: The State Bank has turned into a high profile income generating institution for the government as total income of the SBP crossed Rs108 billion during the last year.

However, high income of SBP also reflects the government’s large borrowing on which the SBP earns profits.

The detail account showed that the SBP earned 59 per cent higher income during 2006-07 but not solely because of higher government borrowings.

The rising foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank which reached $14 billion were a strong factor for SBP’s record earnings.

The SBP earned Rs108.733 billion during the said year against Rs68.184 billion earned previous year. The earning came from the foreign currency assets, discount on Market Treasury Bills, mark-up income on loans and advances and gain on sale of shares of United Bank Limited.

The interest income increased by 32.4 per cent to Rs87.224 billion as compared to previous year’s income of Rs65.893 billion.

The SBP earned Rs34.738 billion as interest on foreign assets which was 44.8 per cent higher than last year.