a- Role of SBP in public debt management

- SBP serves as an agent of Government of Pakistan for managing domestic public debt. SBP is responsible for conducting auctions of marketable government securities (MTBs, PIBs and GIS) and managing certain public debt data. SBP also regulates Primary Dealers of government securities.

- SBP aims to improve liquidity in the debt market of government securities by improving price discovery and diversifying investor base, and to channelize savings of the end investors directly to debt instruments by bringing more efficiency in banks’ intermediation process.

b- What are public debt markets and why are they important?

- Public debt markets are markets for raising funds for the government from local and foreign investors through debt instruments. In Pakistan, these include MTBs, PIBs, GIS, National savings instruments, Eurobonds, International Sukuk, etc.

- An efficient market of government securities allows better price discovery, enhances investors’ interest and reduces cost of borrowing for the government.

c- Marketable Government Securities

- MTBs: MTBs, also commonly known as ‘T-bills’, are short-term, highly liquid government securities issued in 3, 6 and 12 months tenors. The auctions of MTBs are conducted fortnightly (on Wednesdays). The auction and settlement dates, target amount and maturity amount are issued through pre-announced auction calendars.

- PIB: PIBs are medium-to-long term government securities issued in 3, 5, 10 and 20 years tenors. The auctions of PIBs are conducted on the basis of pre-announced auction calendars. The calendar provides the details of auction and settlement dates, target amount and maturity amount.

- GIS (FRR & VRR): GIS are Shariah compliant Islamic debt instruments currently issued in 3-year tenors. GIS may be issued on the basis of Variable Rate Rentals or Fixed Rate Rentals.

Details of government securities are available in Investor Guides:

MTB: http://www.sbp.org.pk/dmmd/Guidelines/MTB.pdf
PIB: http://www.sbp.org.pk/dmmd/Guidelines/PIB.pdf
GIS: http://www.sbp.org.pk/dmmd/Guidelines/Sukuk.pdf

d- Issuance of marketable government securities

- SBP conducts multiple-priced auctions of marketable government securities on behalf of GOP on the basis of a pre-announced auction calendar. The auction calendar is decided by the GOP and circulated by SBP to the market. MTB auctions are conducted on fortnightly basis, while PIB auctions are conducted on need basis. The auctions are conducted on Wednesdays and the settlement takes place at T+1 i.e. the following Thursday.  Primary Dealers (PDs) of government securities are allowed to participate in the auctions of government securities.

- The auction calendar provides auction and settlement dates, maturing amount and auction target amount. The calendar is issued every month for the next three months on rolling basis on SBP website, Bloomberg and Reuters.

- The auction results cut-off yields/ accepted amounts are decided by the GOP and circulated to the market by SBP on the same day on which the auction is conducted.

 List of PDs/PPDs/SPDs for FY 2023-24:

Sr.#	Name
Primary Dealer
1	Bank Al-Falah Limited
2	National Bank of Pakistan
3	Habib Bank Limited
4	Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited
5	United Bank Limited
6	The Bank of Punjab
7	MCB Bank Limited
8	Pak Oman Investment Company Limited
9	JS Bank Limited
10	Citi Bank - Pakistan
Special Purpose Primary Dealer
1	Central Depository Company Limited
2	National Clearing Company Of Pakistan