Bonds soak up $646M

Press, 16 April 1982, Page 1

Bonds soak up $646M

Parliamentary reporter Investment in the Government’s inflation-adjusted sav- ! ings bonds has amounted to $646.6 million since they I were first introduced on 1 October 10, 1977. ' < That first series of bonds 1 was limited to $lOOO worth a ] person in any calendar year and $5060 in total. Invest- 1 ment then ran at an average 1 of $850,000 a month. j On November 5, 1979. the j limits were raised to $5OOO in I a calendar year and $lO,OOO 1 in total, and investment in- v creased to an average $l3 f million a month. r The second series of infla- r lion-adjusted bonds was in- 1 troduced on November 18 last year, when the annual t limit was abolished and the r

over-all limit increased to $26,660. Since the inception of the second series, monthly investments have been: November, 1981, $38.7 million; December, 1981, $66.4 million; January, 1982, $56.7 million; February, 1982, $54.3 million; and March, 1982, $68.4 million. The bonds do not have any fixed date of maturity, and bond-holders may obtain repayment at any time on giving a month's notice. However, only those bondholders over the age of 66, or who are buying a first home, farm, or a fishing vessel will receive an inflation adjustment on bonds redeemed in less than five years. To date, 3.5 per cent of the total investment, worth $22.6 million, has been repaid.