Government offers savings bonds at double rates

The Federal Government has offered for subscription two-year and three-year Savings Bonds to investors at 13.535 per cent and 14.535 per cent, respectively effective from Monday, August 7 to August 11, 2017.

The FGN Savings Bond is promoting savings culture in the country, and enhancing financial inclusion. According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), the two-year bond will be due in August 2019, while the three-year bond has a maturity date of August 2020.

The offer has a minimum subscription of N5,000 with increases thereafter in multiples of N1,000 up to a maximum subscription of N50 million. DMO said the bond is backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government, with quarterly coupon payments to bondholders.

The DMO stated that the savings bond will help broaden Nigeria’s funding base, and targeted primarily at retail investors to enable them contribute to the development of the country, while also earning good returns on a safe investment in a sovereign instrument.

The FGN Savings Bond was launched by the DMO in March 2017, and now issued every month through stockbroking firms trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Since its introduction in March, the FGN Savings Bond has attracted a lot of new investors to the FGN securities market with its attractive features, even as income earned from it is exempted from taxes and can be traded in the secondary market on the NSE.