Thursday, April 17 2025

Banks bid Rs3.3tr to invest in govt papers
The government on Wednesday raised a cumulative Rs1.22 trillion through auctions of Treasury Bills (T-bills) and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs). According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the government received bids of Rs1,730bn for T-bills and Rs1,592bn for PIBs, indicating that the investors were willing to park over Rs3.3tr collectively in the risk-free government securities. The government raised Rs965bn against the T-bill auction target of Rs850bn while the maturing amount was Rs821bn. These staggering bids also reflect the banks’ inability to extend loans to the private sector, as advances kept declining from the peak in Dec 2024. The investment in unproductive government papers dims growth possibilities in the private sector.
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Wednesday, April 16 2025

Soneri Bank profit falls
Soneri Bank Ltd on Tuesday reported that its profit-after-tax fell 16.47 per cent to Rs1.470 billion for quarter ending on March 31 from Rs1.760bn. The bank’s board of directors in its 210th meeting ap­­proved the bank’s interim financial statements for the quarter ended March 31. The earnings per share declined to Rs1.04 during the quarter compared to Rs1.59 due to additional tax incidence on banking companies introduced via Income Tax (Amen­dment Ordinance) 2024 with an effective tax rate of 65.62pc against 50.48pc in the same quarter last year.
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Friday, April 11 2025

Bank advances to private sector fall
Despite a massive cut in the benchmark interest rates, the private sector continued retiring loans as bank advances plunged 52 per cent in the January-March quarter. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) slashed its policy rate by a staggering 1,000bps to 12pc from an unprecedented level of 22pc since June 2024. The SBP data on Thursday showed that the private sector kept returning bank money it borrowed in the second quarter of FY25. The private sector returned Rs712 billion in the third quarter of FY25. At the end of the second quarter on Dec 31, 2024, the total private sector borrowing stood at R1.4 trillion. Bankers said the hype in the credit offtake by the private sector was not real as banks were parking their liquidity outside the banks to avoid a 15pc incremental tax for not meeting the 50pc Advance-to-Deposit Ratio limit.
Related news categories: business comm-banks economic-indicators misc