State Bank of Pakistan to raise Rs 4.25 trillion through new economic move

Author: Web Desk

State Bank of Pakistan to raise Rs 4.25 trillion through the new economic move.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) released the auction calendar for the final quarter of CY19, in which it aims to raise Rs4.25 trillion from the auction of Market Treasury Bills (MTB) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIB).

The maturing amount during the period Oct-Dec is Rs4.736 trillion, which indicates a net retirement of Rs486.77 billion by the government.

The SBP plans to raise Rs3.80 trillion from the auction of short term T-Bills and Rs 450 billion from longer term PIBs.

The amount to be raised from PIBs is further divided into two categories, i.e. fixed and floating bonds. The SBP is targeting Rs 300 billion from the fixed rate bonds of 3, 5, 10 and 20 years while Rs 150 billion will be raised through floating rate bonds of 10 Years.

Sources added that Pakistan’s total public debt increased by 1.43 per cent to Rs32.240 trillion in the first two months of the current fiscal year. Total public debt stood at Rs31.786 trillion at the end of June 2019, the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed. Of the total public debt, the share of domestic debt increased by 3.68 per cent to Rs21.495 trillion at the end of August.

Foreign debt, however, fell 2.80 per cent to Rs10.745 trillion in the period under review. The tax collection in the first quarter of the current fiscal year stood at Rs960 billion, falling short of the government’s target of Rs1 trillion for July-September.

The government has projected public debt to increase by 47 per cent to Rs45.57 trillion in five years. The domestic debt is also set to increase 30 per cent to Rs26.8 trillion, while external debt is expected to surge 80 per cent to Rs18.77 trillion. The Senate Standing Committee on Power Tuesday was informed that active circular debt has surged to Rs.860 billion and efforts were being made to curtail its flow.