KIBOR drops by 77bps

September 15, 2023 (MLN): Right after the surprising decision of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22% even when the market was expecting a rate hike of 100-200 bps, the 1W Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (KIBOR) dropped by 77 bps on Friday to 21.34% compared to yesterday’s value of 22.11%.

Accordingly, the six months KIBOR decreased by 1.59% to 22.84%, and one-year KIBOR plummeted by 1.61% to 22.93%.

Taking clues from the last T bill auction, wherein the yield jumped to 25.06%, the market was expecting a rate hike of 100-200 bps.

Notably, the yield in the T Bills auction held on Wednesday surpassed the prevailing interest rates, highlighting the economic uncertainty and PKR devaluation. Thus, auction participants were asking for high margins.

However, subsequent efforts by authorities in previous days to reign in the illicit activities in the currency market helped the local currency to gain its strength.

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