KARACHI: Banks were keen to invest about Rs4.9 trillion in treasury bills on Wednesday, while the government borrowed money more than the auction targets.

The auction reflected the impact of the recent hike in the SBP policy rate as the government raised cut-off yields up to 61bps across all tenors.

However, the huge bids of Rs4.867tr in the auction were surprising, reflecting the poor performance of financial institutions, which were eager to park liquidity in risk-free government papers for easy, higher returns rather than risk extending loans to the private sector.

The government raised Rs1.913tr against a target of Rs1.65tr; however, the maturing amount was Rs1.195tr. The government raised Rs244.4bn through non-competitive bids, which was included in the total amount of Rs1.913tr.

The government raised the highest amount, Rs783.5bn, for three months at 12.42pc; Rs473bn for one month at 12.1pc; Rs169.5bn for six months at 12.65pc; and Rs242.7bn for 12 months at 12.89pc.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2026