A total of 21 billion baht worth of government savings bonds will go on sale to the public from Aug 22 to 24, a Ministry of Finance official confirmed on Thursday.
The 5- and 10-year bonds, intended to help finance the budget deficit, will offer a yearly average coupon of 2.9% and 3.6%, respectively, said Patricia Mongkhonvanit, head of the Public Debt Management Office.
The country’s public debt to GDP ratio is expected to reach 61.3% at the end of the current fiscal year to September, down from a previous forecast of 62.69%, she said. The approved debt ceiling is 70% of GDP.
Some state agencies have not borrowed as previously proposed, she added.
As rising interest rates will affect public borrowing costs, the government has tried to adjust its existing debt to fixed interest rates and turned to longer-term debt, she added.
In the 2023 fiscal year starting in October, the amount of government bonds to be issued should not be very different from the current fiscal year, he added.
All told, about 1.04 trillion baht worth of government bond issues are planned for the current year, according to the ministry.