Auction for PIBs: government rejects all bids as banks seek higher margin

The federal government Wednesday rejected all the bids in the auction for Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). Analysts said most of the bids for the long-term investment bonds were submitted with higher margin compared to previous auction. Therefore, the government decided not to borrow and hence rejected all the bids. This was the third auction in a row for long-term bonds, which was rejected by the federal government.
Mainly, the government conducts one auction for PIBs every month and previously, the federal government did not borrow in October and November through the auction for PIBs, they added. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Wednesday conducted the auction for PIBs for 3-, 5-, 10-, and 20-year maturity to raise some Rs 50 billion for the federal government to meet its increasing financial requirements.
Participation was thin in the auction and overall, bids worth Rs 46.99 billion with a total realised value of Rs 47.099 billion were received for the sale of 3-year, 5-year and 10-year long-term government securities, however, no bid was received for 20-year variety.