The effective return per year for Singapore Savings Bond fell to a low of 1.94% for June 2016 before recovering to 2.06% for July 2016.
If you have followed my blog, you know that I have subscribed to October 2015 Singapore Savings Bond. I have received my first payout in April 2016. The next payout will be in October 2016.
Besides the Singapore Savings Bond, I am curious whether there are other debt instruments with low risk and acceptable returns. After some searching, I found that there are various marketable debt instruments issued by the government, mainly being Bonds, Treasury Bill (T-bills) and of course the Singapore Savings Bond.
From MAS website, the difference between T-bills and Bonds
T-bills are short-term securities that mature in one year or less from their issue date. T-bills are bought and sold at a price less than their face (par) value, and when they mature, the Government will pay the holder of the T-bill an amount of S$ equivalent to the face value of the bond. Therefore, the interest earned on the T-bill is the difference between the purchase price of the security and its face (par) value. The Singapore Government issues 3-month and 12-month T-bills.
Bonds are debt securities that pay a fixed rate of interest (called the coupon), usually every six months, for the life of the securities and then their face (par) values on redemption on maturity. In Singapore, SGS bonds are issued with maturities of 2, 5, 7, 10 and 15 years.
Based on the MAS issuance calendar, the next T-bill issuance date is on 20th October 2016.
Has anyone of you applied for or held Singapore Treasury Bills before?