But sales of savings tools drop
The net investment in the national savings certificates and bonds increased by 977.30 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13 due to a decreased premature cashing by clients. According to the Directorate of National Savings’ data, the net investment in the savings instruments was Tk 7,460.97 crore in July-March of the FY14 while it was Tk 692.56 crore in the same period of the FY13.
A DNS official told New Age on Thursday that previously clients had made huge premature cashing of their savings tools, but the trend (premature cashing) changed significantly in recent months.
He said that premature cashing decreased significantly in this financial year as the five-year savings tools, which were sold hugely in the FY10, would mature in the next financial year.
The DNS data showed that the premature cashing of savings tools by clients declined by 42.71 per cent in July-March of the FY14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13.
Clients cashed prematurely savings instruments worth Tk 9,689.09 crore in the first nine months of the FY14 while the figure was Tk 16,913.07 crore during the same period of the FY13.
Another DNS official said that the higher net investment in the government savings tools in the first nine months of the FY14 would not sustain in the next financial year due to a downward trend in the NSC sales.
The DNS data showed that sales of the national savings certificates and bonds dropped by 2.58 per cent in the first nine months of the FY14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13.
The savings instruments worth Tk 17,150.06 crore were sold through banks, national savings bureaus and post offices in July-March of the FY14 whereas the total sales of NSCs in the same period in the FY13 were Tk 17,605.63 crore.
The decreased sales of the national savings certificates and bonds indicate that the savings ability of general people has declined, the official 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.
He 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 recent months and it hit their savings ability, he said.
The DNS official said that the net investment in the savings tools might cross Tk 8,500 crore in the FY14 if the trend of lower premature cashing continues in the last quarter of this financial year.
The government in the last financial year had 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
