Most of the 60-billion-baht government savings bonds have been sold out within less than two weeks, amid investors' risk-off mode due to economic uncertainties, says the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).
The PDMO issued the first batch of the Rao Chana (We Win) government savings bonds on Feb 1 and the 5-billion-baht debt securities tranche was sold out within eight hours through Krungthai Bank's Pao Tang e-wallet app, said Patricia Mongkhonvanit, PDMO's director-general.
Money accumulated from the bond sales will be used to alleviate the plight arising from the pandemic crisis, said Mrs Patricia.
There were 9,549 buyers of the We Win government savings bonds via the Pao Tang app, with 67% identified as those residing in rural provinces and the rest were made up of people living in Bangkok, according to the PDMO.
The average purchased amount was 520,000 baht per person.
For the second batch of savings bonds worth 55 billion baht, 45 billion have been purchased by investors and it is expected that the remaining amount will be sold out over the next two days, she said.
Mrs Patricia said the government savings bonds are a good investment choice for investors because they come with minimal risks and generate a good return.
This is especially true as global financial markets have been experiencing sporadic volatility stemming from economic uncertainties.
The We Win government savings bonds distributed via the Pao Tang app have a five-year maturity period and come with a step-up interest rate at 2% per year. Minimum investment is capped at 100 baht and the maximum is 5 million baht.
For the 55-billion-baht batch of the We Win government savings bonds, distributed through Krungthai Bank, Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank, there is no minimum or maximum investment limit.
The distribution period is divided into two phases. The first phase is scheduled for Feb 5-15 for the general public. The second phase is scheduled for Feb 16-19 for non-profit juristic persons as defined by the Finance Ministry.