The sale of national savings certificates has touched a new high amid Bangladesh’s political uncertainty, showing people’s eagerness to make safe investments.
Recent figures made available by the Directorate of National Savings show that the sale of national savings certificates in the first five months of the 2013-14 fiscal was ten times the sale during the corresponding period in the previous fiscal, and five times the sale recorded during the entire year.
The sale in November alone equalled the previous year’s total sales.
Former Governor Mohammad Farash Uddin of the Bangladesh Bank feels people are opting for ‘safe investment’ in savings certificates because of a fall in bank deposit interests and a sluggish capital market.
Economist Zayed Bakht says, “People are reluctant to take any risk in matters on investments because of the political unrest and financial scandals involving Hallmark and the banks.”
According to the Savings Directorate statistics, in the first five months (July-November) of the 2013-14 financial year, the total sale of various types of savings certificates was Tk 33.7bn.
The sale during the first five months in the last financial year was Tk 3.85bn and at the end of the entire fiscal, the sale stood at Tk 7.72bn.
In the year before that (2011-12), savings certificates worth Tk 4.79bn had been sold.
The net sale in November this year was Tk 6.70bn compared to Tk 1.26bn the same month in the last fiscal.
Source: bdnews24
