KARACHI: The government raised Rs19.668 billion from the auction of long-term Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIB) held on Wednesday against the target of Rs50bn, according to the auction result released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Against a maturing amount of Rs14.98bn, the central bank sold three-year bonds worth Rs6.685bn, five-year worth Rs1.75bn and 10-year worth Rs11.233bn with the cut-off yields of 12.25 per cent, 12.7pc and 13.15pc respectively. However, the government did not receive any bids for 20-year instruments.

The auction had attracted total bids worth Rs24.093bn, of which the central bank accepted Rs19.66bn and rejected the rest. Prior to Wednesday’s auction, the SBP has rejected all bids for the long-term instruments in the quarter.

The government’s borrowing has seen significant surge in the ongoing fiscal year as during just five months, the net borrowing for budgetary support from the SBP has reached Rs4.8 trillion compared to Rs3.61tr in the last fiscal year.

The SBP seeks to raise another Rs50bn in the upcoming auction to be held on Jan 23, 2019.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2018