Warm Welcome For Bonds On The First Day

THAI KHEM KAENG SAVING BONDS

Warm welcome for bonds on the first day

By The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Elderly people are queuing nationwide to buy the second lot of Thai Khem Kaeng 'Strong Thailand' government savings bonds, a high-interest savings bond offered nationwide at some 7,000 branches of 12 banks and financial institutions.

Senior citizens aged 60 and over are given priority to purchase the bonds during the first two days -- Monday and Tuesday -- while sales on the last three days, Wednesday through Friday, will be open to the general public.

Ministry of Finance-sponsored savings bonds valued at Bt100 billion were earlier scheduled to be on sale for five days -- May 17 through May 21 -- to help refinance short-term loans borrowed for stimulus spending, but the programme was postponed due to the security situation at that time.

Originally scheduled for late March, the latest phase of political turmoil began in mid-March.

Public Debt Management Office director-general Chakkrit Parapuntakul said earlier that he believed all the bonds would be sold out within the first two days.

The bonds mature in six years. The minimum purchase is Bt10,000 and the maximum is Bt1 million, with an average interest rate of 4.17 per cent paid twice annually.

This bond issue is part of the government's plan to sell Bt170 billion in savings bonds in the current fiscal year ending in September to help finance Bt1.43 trillion in stimulus spending over three years.

Last year, the government sold Bt80 billion of savings bonds in July. The issue was snapped up quickly by small investors seeking an alternative to low deposit interest rates.

-- The Nation 2010-06-07