KARACHI: T-bills worth $536 million were bought by foriegn investors during the latest auction, it was learnt on Friday.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan’s data, the United Kingdom bought $457 million of T-bills, while the United States bought the same worth $80 million.
As per the data, during thee July 2019-January 2020 period, foreign investment in T-Bills has reached $2.233 billion.
Combined with foreign investment in Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs), at $24 million, this brings the total foreign investment in debt securities to $2.257 billion.
The latest auction represents the first time that foreign investment in T-bills has crossed $500 million in a single session.
The combination of higher SBP reserves (currently at a 21-month high), inflow of ‘hot money’ and the high policy rate of 13.25pc have led to some predicting a more confident and optimistic outlook for Pakistan.
There is speculation that a policy rate cut might happen anytime from late January to within the next few months. It remains to be seen whether inflows will still remain high once the policy cut happens.
