New one-year state bond has net interest rate of 1.93 per cent

The new one-year Belgian state bond people can subscribe to from Thursday has a net interest rate of 1.93 per cent, announced the Belgian Debt Agency. This means that, as expected, the interest rate is a lot lower than that of the state bond launched a year ago.

The new one-year state bond has a gross interest rate of 2.75 per cent. After taxes, that goes down to 1.93 per cent. The 10-year state bond has a gross interest rate of 2.80 per cent.

Subscription is possible from Thursday. At their bank, people have time to do so until 13 September. Through the government itself until 12 September.

The popular state bond of last year had a net interest rate of 2.81 per cent, so a lot higher than the new one. That was the result of an exceptional tax cut and higher market interest rates. Those good conditions ensured that a record amount of nearly 22 billion euros was raised.

The Debt Agency expects to bring in 4 billion euros this time. The previous one-year state bonds, issued in March and June, raised a small billion combined.

Release money from popular bond

The Debt Agency is counting on bringing in more this time because tomorrow is the day that last year’s popular, tax-friendly bond reaches its maturity date and so all the money from the state bond is set to be released. The money and accompanying interest from the popular state bond will be returned to the accounts of more than half a million Belgians, who can possibly invest some of their money again.

Meanwhile, banks have launched a counter-offensive to recover the money they lost on the state bond exactly a year ago. In recent days, several banks launched new term accounts with better interest rates than the new state bond. A lot of traditional savings accounts are also yielding more.

A state bond is a government bond, intended for private individuals. Whoever buys a state bond lends money to the government. In exchange, the government pays them an agreed rate of interest every year, the so-called coupon. At the maturity date, people get their money back

^{Person counting stack of 50 euro notes © BELGA PHOTO IMAGEBROKER}