Govt Savings Tools
Sales drop by 8.5pc in July-Jan
Sales of the national savings certificates and bonds dropped by 8.50 per cent in the first seven months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13.
The savings instruments worth Tk 12,701.80 crore were sold through banks, national savings bureaus and post offices in July-January of the FY14 whereas the total sales of NSCs in the same period in the FY13 were Tk 13,882.55 crore.
A DNS official told New Age on Thursday that the net investment in the government savings tools increased significantly in the first seven months of the FY14, but the growth would not sustain in the next financial year due to the downward trend in NSC sales.
The decreased sales of the national savings certificates and bonds indicate that the savings ability of general people has declined, he said.
He said the lower- and middle-income groups of people were now facing financial crisis due to the recent political unrest which pushed down the gross investment in the government savings tools, he said.
The DNS official said farmers had faced problem in the period in selling their products due to a supply chain disruption amid frequent blockades enforced by the opposition political alliance.
Under the circumstances, farmers counted huge amount of losses in the recent months of the FY14 and it hit their savings ability, he said.
The DNS data showed that the net investment in the savings certificates and bonds increased by 1,272.84 per cent in the first seven months of the FY14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13 because of a lower premature cashing.
Another DNS official said that the five-year savings tools, which were sold in the FY10, would mature in the next financial year.
So premature cashing of the instruments will decrease in the FY14, he said.
The tenure of the majority of tools of the DNS is of three years and of five years, he said.
The DNS data showed that the net investment in the savings instruments was Tk 4,983.44 crore in July-January of the FY14 while it was Tk 363 crore in the same period of the FY13.
The cashing of savings tools by the clients declined by 42.90 per cent in the seven months of the FY14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13.
The DNS official said that previously clients had made huge premature cashing of their savings tools, but the trend (of premature cashing) decreased significantly in the recent months.
He hoped that the net investment in the savings tools might cross Tk 6,000 crore in the FY14.
The government in the last financial year collected only Tk 772.84 crore or 10.44 per cent of its annual target of Tk 7,400 crore in investment in the national savings certificates and bonds.
Against the backdrop, the government set a net investment target of Tk 4,971 crore for the FY14.
The official, however, feared that the net investment would plunge in the coming financial year as the sales of saving tools were now witnessing a downward trend.
-With New Age input
