Govt borrows 155 pc more from banks

The government has borrowed 155 percent more only in five months than a target set for the whole year. The budget target was 166 billion rupees but loans of 418 billion rupees have been taken by the government.

According to SBP report, Govt loans from central bank stand at Rs 336 billion and it took Rs 82 billion from other banks. While in the same period, private sector got loans of Rs 70.86 billion.

SBP pulls Rs 17bn out of money market

The State Bank of Pakistan has pulled extra money of Rs 17 billion out of money market by selling of T-bills on Thursday.

The Central Bank withdrew the money through repo sales. The bank will re-buy sold T-bills after 8 days and will pay profit at the annual rate of 12.19 percent. Money Market dealers made offers worth 25.10 billion rupees. The bank has sold T-bills of worth Rs 45.50 billion during last three days.

SBP injects 9 billion in money market

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has injected 9.70 billion rupees in the money market to fill the investment gap, Dunya News reported on Friday.
The central bank provided the money by purchasing treasury papers through open market operations. 12.27% annual interest rate would be charged by the bank on the money provided.
On the other hand money market dealers had offered treasury papers worth 20.40 billion rupees for the open market operations.

SBP sells T-bills of Rs 3bn

To absorb the excess liquidity out of the market, State Bank of Pakistan has sold T-bills worth Rs 3 billion through Open Market Operation.
The Central Bank received offers worth Rs 9.5 billion, of which SBP accepted the offers of Rs 3 billion on which interest rate is 11.69 percent with 6 days period. Mark-up of 11.68 percent would be given on the sold T-bills.

S.Lanka reveals haul of civilian gold from war zone

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government has said its troops collected more than four million dollars worth of gold jewellery during the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Chief government whip Dinesh Gunawardena told parliament on Wednesday that security forces picked up the precious items during the final months of the decades-long civil war last year.

“The army’s 58th division and the military police found 110 kilos of gold jewellery. The value of the jewellery is about 490 million rupees (4.4 million dollars),” Gunawardena said.

The haul “was being legally handed over to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka,” he said, without giving further details.

The Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), a Tamil rights group, said the government should trace owners and return all the goods.

“We don’t know where the military found this jewellery, but what is clear is

SBP injects Rs27b to overcome liquidity crunch

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) injected Rs 1.29 trillion in the system in order to overcome liquidity crunch in the money market during.
According to report, SBP provided the money for four days
The central bank bought government papers worth Rs 29.50 billion. Mark-up on the T-Bills is 2 percent per year.

Asian markets end mixed

Asian stock markets mostly posted modest gains Tuesday with Japan’s benchmark jumping 1.5 percent during an otherwise lackluster session in Asia.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose out of negative territory after the Bank of Japan cut its key interest rate to a range of zero to 0.1 percent. The index closed up 137.70 points, or 1.5 percent, at 9,518.76.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.1 percent to 22,639.14 and South Korea’s Kospi was fractionally lower at 1,878.94. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 percent to 4,606.90, reducing losses after the country’s central bank left its main interest rate unchanged.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 83.32 yen from 83.59 yen late Monday in New York. The euro rose to $1.3777 from $1.3665.

SBP sells T-bills of Rs 6bn

To absorb the excess liquidity out of the market, State Bank of Pakistan has sold T-bills worth Rs 6 billion through Open Market Operation.
The Central Bank received offers worth Rs 9 billion, of which SBP accepted the offers of Rs 6 billion on which interest rate is 10.95 percent with 6 days period. Mark-up of 11.68 percent would be given on the sold T-bills.

Bank of Japan dumps Yen

Bank of Japan dumps Yen in first intervention in six years. Japan’s central bank sold its own currency to stem its rapid rise against the U.S. dollar. It is the first such market intervention in six years pushed the dollar up sharply.
Rising value of yen was hurting the profit of Japanese companies; a strong yen hurts Japanese exports at a time when its economic recovery is stalling. Japan has in the past guarded its competitiveness by intervening in the currency market. Asian stock markets jumped after the news of intervention.
The Nikkei average jumped almost three percent on the news, with shares of large exporters Sony, Kyocera and Toyota rising.
The Bank of Japan did not reveal how many dollars the bank bought, but said it will continue to pump ample liquidity into the financial market.

Top Pakistani finance officials join IMF talks

WASHINGTON: Senior Pakistani finance officials joined talks at the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Thursday to try to work out the impact to the economy from the worst floods in decades.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Pakistan’s Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Central Bank Governor Yaseen Anwar had joined the talks, which began on Monday at IMF headquarters.

He said the sides were exploring all options for salvaging Pakistan’s economy, including easing conditions on an existing $11 billion IMF loan program and financing under an IMF facility for countries hit by disasters.

Under such a facility, Pakistan stands to get just over a $1 billion in IMF funds.

The floods have wiped out villages, roads and bridges, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded or homeless, heightening concerns about a nation that is already battling

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