The new one-year government bond has got off to a flying start. By 5pm on Thursday more than 1 billion euro had already been registered by investors whishing to purchase the bond directly from the Debt Agency’s Ledgers Service. Meanwhile, the Debt Agency estimates that about the same amount was raised through people wishing to invest in the bond via the banks. By launching a one-year bond the Federal Government hopes to encourage the banks to raise the interest rates they offer on savings accounts.
Home News
One-year government bond is already a resounding success
Published:
From yesterday (Thursday 24 August) those that wished to were able to register to invest in the new government bond that offers at a net yield of 2.81%. This can be done via many (but not all) banks and also directly with the Debt Agency. The Debt Agency is the public body that issues government bonds in Belgium.
The registrations with the Debt Agency’s Ledgers Service opened at a minute after midnight on Thursday. By 5pm on Thursday the Ledgers Service had already received 29,197 registrations with a total value of 1.013 billion euro to purchase the new one-year bonds.
The Debt Agency estimates that about the same amount has been raised through the banks. The Federal Government hopes that the launch of the new bond will encourage the banks to raise interest rates on savings accounts.
The Debt Agency’s Jean Deboutte told VRT News that he expects the pace at which people are registering to invest in the new bonds will slow down somewhat during the coming days. However, even if this is the case several billion euro will have been raised by the time the bond is launched. Mr Deboutte believes that as much as 8 billion euro will have been raised by the time registrations to purchase the bond close next Friday (1 September).