NTMA announces new issues of State Savings products and changes to interest rates
5 June 2016 - The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has today announced:
- new issues of its range of fixed-rate State Savings products - Savings Bonds, Savings Certificates, Instalment Savings, National Solidarity Bonds
- a new variable interest rate in respect of the Deposit Accounts
- a new variable interest rate used to calculate the prize fund for Prize Bonds
FIXED RATE PRODUCTS
- Issue 17 of 3-year Savings Bond offering a 1% fixed-rate total return, AER1 0.33%
- Issue 6 of 4-year National Solidarity Bond offering a 2% fixed-rate total return, AER 0.50%
- Issue 22 of 5-year Savings Certificate offering a 5% fixed-rate total return, AER 0.98%
- Issue 14 of 6-year Instalment Savings offering a 5½% fixed-rate total return, AER 0.98%2
- Issue 6 of 10-year National Solidarity Bond offering a 16% fixed-rate total return, AER 1.50%
Note 1: AER is the Annual Equivalent Rate. The AER quoted assumes no early encashment.
Note 2: The AER on Instalment Savings assumes an average term of 5½ years based on a one-year contribution period followed by a five-year term.
Any money already placed in previous issues of fixed-rate products prior to Sunday 5 June 2016 will continue to receive, for their remaining term, the fixed rates applicable to each product on the day of purchase. Previous issues of these products are now closed to new purchases.
DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS
The new variable rate on the Deposit Account and Deposit Account Plus is 0.15% subject to Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT).
PRIZE BONDS
From 1 July 2016 the variable rate used to calculate the monthly prize fund will be 0.85%. There is also a change to the prize structure. The new prize structure is as follows: the top weekly prize is €50,000 except in the last weekly draw of every calendar quarter i.e. March, June, September and December when the top prize will be €1 million. Each week there will 10 prizes of €1,000 and 10 prizes of €500 respectively. The remaining weekly prize fund will be awarded in €50 prizes.
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The new issues and interest rates reflect changes across the retail savings market and the fall in the cost of borrowing by the State. However, the changes also maintain the balance of remaining competitive and providing good value for the holders of State Savings products.
All State Savings money is placed directly with the Government and repayment is a direct unconditional obligation of the Government.