New Thai government savings bonds to be issued

BANGKOK, January 6 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Finance and the state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), will separately issue special savings bonds soon, with their combined value of 100 billion baht and their sales set from January 12–23. Thai Finance Minister Sommai Pasi presided over the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on his ministry's sale of the special savings bond, totally worth 50 billion baht, carrying a 10-year maturity with the average interest rate during the entire period of 4 per cent. Sommai said that the sale of his ministry's savings bond will be made through four commercial banks, including state-owned Krung Thai, Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank and Siam Commercial Bank. The new savings bond to be issued by BAAC, on the other hand, carries a five-year maturity, totally worth 50 billion baht, with its average interest rate of 3.8 per cent and sale to be offered at every BAAC branch. The finance minister expressed his optimism that the new special savings bonds should be welcomed by the public, given the government’s strong monetary and fiscal status. (TNA)