KARACHI, Aug 4: The State Bank said on Saturday it planned to raise Rs15 billion through an auction of long-term government bonds this month.The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement it planned to sell fresh issues of three-, five- and 10-year Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) on Aug. 21.

It would also re-open October 31, 2006 issues of 15- and 20-year PIBs, in addition to reopening the December 22, 2006 issue of the 30-year bond, it said.

Settlement will be on Aug. 22.

The three-, five-, 10-, 15- and 20-year PIBs carry annual coupons of 9.1, 9.3, 9.6, 10 and 10.5 per cent respectively, while the 30-year paper carries a coupon of 11 per cent.

This will be the first PIB auction to be conducted by the government in the current fiscal year. The last PIB auction was held on June 5, when the central bank sold Rs15.14 billion worth of long-term bonds.—Reuters