MAS slows pace of savings bond programme

Singapore

THE Singapore government is slowing the pace at which it offers Savings Bonds, with up to just S$300 million on offer for issuance in January, compared to S$1.2 billion in each of the previous three months.

After offering a total of S$3.6 billion of these bonds in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Tuesday said it will offer up to just S$4 billion for all of 2016. The issue sizes are shrinking after 80 per cent of the savings bonds offered so far have gone unsold. After drawing an inaugural allocation rate of 34 per cent in the October series, the December series saw an allocation rate of just 3.4 per cent.