From April 10 to 19, the first and second phases of the 2024 Savings Treasury Bonds (electronic) will be officially issued.
The maximum total issuance of the two phases of electronic treasury bonds issued this time is 45 billion yuan, an increase of 7 billion yuan over the maximum total issuance of the two phases of savings treasury bonds (electronic type) issued in October last year of 38 billion yuan.
According to the treasury bond issuance plan, the two tranches of treasury bonds are fixed-rate and fixed-term varieties. The first phase has a term of 3 years, with an annual coupon rate of 2.38% and a maximum issuance amount of 22.5 billion yuan, and the second phase has a term of 5 years, with a coupon rate of 2.5% per annum and a maximum issuance amount of 22.5 billion yuan.
Interest on the two tranches of Treasury bonds will begin on April 10, 2024, and interest will be paid annually on April 10 of each year. The first and second instalments are due to repay the principal and last interest on April 10, 2027 and April 10, 2029, respectively.
According to media reports, as the first round of electronic treasury bonds issued this year, investors with slow hand speed could not grab them at all, and many business outlets were sold out within half an hour.
Sold out in 1 minute
Netizen: I didn't even click the button
According to Chao News, at 8:30 a.m. on the 10th, the reporter logged in to the mobile banking of a large state-owned bank on time and entered the purchase page.
After refreshing back and forth, the page prompt becomes: "There are too many people handling business at present, and the system is stepping up processing, please try again later." ”
At this time, the reporter decided to switch to another bank's online banking to try to buy. At 8:32, when I entered the bank's purchase page, what I didn't expect was that the page directly displayed that the second 5-year savings treasury bond (electronic) product had been sold out.
As a result, the reporter logged back to the first bank's online banking, and at this time, the page displayed the prompt above, the 5-year treasury bond product: "As of 8:31 on April 10, 2024, the saleable degree of the electronic banking channel is 0 yuan." ”
Since the 3-year product still shows that it can be clicked to buy, the reporter tried to enter "5000 yuan" and entered the next page, but a reminder of "insufficient balance in the internal account register" popped up.
After a few back-and-forth attempts, the page finally says "This purchase is insufficient".
At this time, the online banking of the second bank also showed that the two treasury bond products had been sold out.
According to Yangzhou Daily, many citizens told reporters that even if they set an alarm clock and were ready to get up in the morning to buy treasury bonds, they still did not grab them. "It's really convenient to buy treasury bonds on your mobile phone, but you have to 'fight for speed'. I set an alarm clock for 8:30 a.m. to buy Treasury bonds, but when I opened my phone, I saw that there was no limit. ”
On social platforms, many netizens are also posting that "I can't grab it at all".
Only a few lucky winners who grabbed it said: "It's not easy".
It is understood that the treasury bonds issued this time are electronic, and citizens can purchase them at the bank counter in addition to operating in mobile banking and online banking.
However, offline sales are also booming.
According to the Xi'an Evening News, this reporter visited the market and learned that the savings treasury bonds of many banks were sold out in less than one hour, and the treasury bond quota of some banks such as China Merchants Bank was particularly tight, and they were sold out within five minutes.
"Treasury bonds went on sale at half past eight, and our outlets opened half an hour earlier than usual, but at eight o'clock, residents from the surrounding areas lined up. A financial manager of a city commercial bank in Xi'an said.
"Before nine o'clock, our quota is gone. The financial manager of the business department of a state-owned bank in Xi'an said.
According to the Financial Associated Press, the account manager of a large state-owned bank in Shanghai said, "When I came to open the door, there were already a lot of people, most of whom were elderly." "It sold out in an hour or two." The people of the whole city started to grab it at half past eight, and they couldn't miss it for half an hour. ”
Compared with the certificate treasury bonds in March, the electronic treasury bonds can be purchased through online banking or mobile banking, so some account managers said that the rush to buy has reached a higher level.
"When I opened the door, the three people in line at the door were all here to buy government bonds. At half past eight, the first customer grabbed it, and the next two were already sold out when they did it again. The account manager of a joint-stock bank told the Financial Associated Press reporter that he felt that the treasury bonds in April were even more difficult to grab than in March. "There weren't that many people who came to the counter in March, and they could grab it in at least an hour. ”
Why savings bonds are popular
At present, the interest rate on savings bonds is on a downward trend. Compared with November 2023, the coupon rate of the 3-year savings bond issued at that time was 2.63% and the coupon rate of the 5-year treasury bond was 2.75%, both down 25 bp this year.
According to Yangzhou Daily, during the visit, the reporter found that compared with the three-year deposits of large state-owned banks and national joint-stock banks, the current yield of treasury bonds does not have much advantage, and even lower than the three-year deposit yield of city commercial banks. For example, the annual interest rate of a commercial bank in Yangzhou can reach up to 2.75% for a 3-year fixed deposit and 2.8% for a 5-year term. So why are people still willing to buy government bonds even though the interest rate on government bonds has been reduced?
The reporter learned that the investment threshold of savings treasury bonds is low, and interest is paid annually or in a lump sum, and interest income is exempt from individual income tax. And compared with wealth management products, treasury bonds have no risk, so they have always been a "sweet spot" for prudent investors. "Interest rate declines are normalized, and people are more willing to put their money in some low-risk, long-term products to lock in long-term returns. For investors, there are not many products in the market that guarantee principal and interest, and treasury bonds are still one of the popular investment and wealth management products. Moreover, savings treasury bonds have the advantage that they can be withdrawn in advance and can be calculated by the file, which still has certain advantages compared with the current time deposit products of many banks in the same file. The financial manager of a commercial bank in Yangzhou told reporters that although the interest rate on treasury bonds has been lowered, it will not have a big impact on the public's enthusiasm for buying in the case of a small difference with the interest rate on time deposits.
According to the Financial Associated Press, Tan Haojun, an adjunct professor at Zhongnan University of Finance and Economics, said that there are three main reasons why treasury bonds have been sought after recently. First of all, residents have a high level of trust in government bonds, and secondly, combined with the recent trend of interest rate cuts, the yield acceptance rate of government bonds is also higher than that of bank deposits. In fact, it also reflects that there are fewer investment channels for residents at present, and the investment risk of the stock market is also very high, so the stability of government bonds is sought after. ”
"In recent years, the interest rate of savings deposits, especially time deposits, has declined significantly, and savings treasury bonds represent national credit and can better balance income and liquidity needs, resulting in some investors to carry out certain savings substitution to diversify asset portfolios. In addition, some residents still have certain expectations for the future decline in deposit interest rates. Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, said.
Editor|He Xiaotao covers the source
Proofreading|Duan Lian
Cover picture source: Photo by Liu Guomei, Daily Economic News
Daily Economic News, Comprehensive Chao News, Finance Associated Press, Yangzhou Daily, etc
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