Last day for government bonds: 20 billion mark in sight

Since August 24, people have been able to subscribe to the Belgian government’s government voucher. The coupon has a term of one year and will yield a net return of 2.81 percent.

As of midnight, it was still possible to register through the federal debt agency itself. Today you can still do this through participating banks, until 4pm. The agency says payments not received on time will be refunded.

In the Latest ranking Yesterday afternoon, about 19.5 billion euros in state bonds had already been subscribed. Although the government only received an actual payment of €5.6 billion. “The final amount raised will be known on Monday,” Minister Van Petegem said.

But the minister is certain that more than 20 billion euros will be subscribed. “This is a signal from small savers to the banks,” he told RTBF last night. “If savings rates don’t move, we will use all the resources we have” to push banks to compensate savers better.

The government still has to provide the legal framework for government bonds. Some experts question the legitimacy of the (lower) percentage of withholding tax (15%) that will be applied to government bonds. Although Minister Van Petegem’s cabinet had already been told that this would be fine.