The net investment in the national savings certificates and bonds hit a new record at Tk 11,707.31 crore in the recently concluded financial year as clients invested heavily in the savings tools due to lower rate of interest of deposit products of the scheduled banks.
An official of Directorate of National Savings told New Age on Tuesday that the net investment in the government savings tools had made the fresh record in the financial year 2013-14 as the premature cashing of the tools declined significantly in the period.
The previous highest of the net investment in the saving tools was Tk 11,590.64 crore posted in the FY10.
According to the DNS data, the net investment in the savings instruments increased by 1,414.84 per cent in the FY14 from Tk 772.84 crore in the FY13.
The DNS official said that the premature cashing by clients declined in the last financial year as the five-year savings tools, which were sold hugely in the FY10, would mature this financial year.
He said that previously clients had made huge premature cashing of their savings tools, but the trend (premature cashing) changed significantly in the FY14.
The DNS data showed that sales of the national savings certificates and bonds increased by 4.21 per cent in the FY14 compared with that of the FY13.
The savings instruments worth Tk 24,309.60 crore were sold through banks, national savings bureaus and post offices in the FY14 whereas the total sales of the NSCs in the FY13 were Tk 23,326.77 crore in worth.
Cashing of savings tools by clients declined by 44.12 per cent in the FY14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13.
Clients cashed savings instruments worth Tk 12,602.28 crore in the FY14 while the figure was Tk 22,553.92 crore during the same period of the FY13.
The DNS official said that the scheduled banks had recently cut the interest rate of their savings products due to increasing excess liquidity amid sluggish business in the country.
The businesspeople are yet to start their business expansion by receiving loans from the banks due to political uncertainty, he said.
Banks are now reluctant to take deposit from the clients, so they cut the interest rate on their deposit products, he said.
Banks are now giving maximum 9 per cent to 10.50 per cent rate of interest to the clients for the fixed deposit schemes while the interest rate on the government savings tools is between 12.59 per cent and 13.45 per cent.
Against the backdrop, clients made investment heavily in the savings certificates and bonds last financial year, the DNS official said.
The government in the FY13 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.
For this reason, the government set a lower net investment target of Tk 4,971 crore for the FY14.
Another DNS official said that the net investment of the government savings tools continue to maintain the upward trend in the coming months if banks do not increase their rate of interest on the deposit products.
Besides, the country’s political environment will not improve soon as the opposite political parties have recently threatened to start a new phase of anti-government movement.
For this reason, the existing sluggish business situation will not change much shortly and that will fuel up the sales of the savings bonds and certificates in the coming months, the official said.
-With New Age input
