KARACHI: The federal government on Tuesday raised Rs 6.8 billion from the banking sector against the sale of long-term security papers.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted the auction for the sale of government of Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) for 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 30-year on April 16, 2024. Overall bids worth Rs 145 billion were received for 3-year, 5-year and 10-year PIBs, while no bid was submitted for 15-, 20- and 30-year bonds.
Out of the total bids, the federal government borrowed Rs 6.83 billion including Rs 4.9 billion non-competitive and Rs 1.9 billion competitive bids against the target of Rs 190 billion.
Analysts said as the market is expecting some ease in the monetary policy in coming months, therefore the government has adopted a cautioned approach.
An amount of Rs 4.13 billion was raised against sale of 3-year PIBs and its cut-off yield down by 13 basis points (bps) to fix at16.6500 percent. Some Rs 1.64 billion was borrowed through auction of 5-year long term security papers and its cut-off yield set at 15.4800 percent; fell by 1 bps. In addition, worth Rs 1.05 billion 10-year PIBs were sold at 14.3500 percent.
On the other hand, analysts expect a sequential decline in the profitability of the banking sector in the first quarter of this year (CY24). According to Insight Securities the decline in profit will mainly be attributed to a decrease in secondary market yields due to anticipation of a decline in the benchmark rate, resulting in a QoQ decline in net interest margins.
Additionally, inflationary pressure, along with a relatively stable domestic currency, is expected to weigh down sector earnings, analysts said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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