Interest Rates on Savings Certificates are Increasing

News Desk    |    ০৪:২৮ পিএম, ২০২৫-০১-০৯

The interim government has decided to increase the interest rate on savings certificates by at least 1%. However, investors with up to seven and a half lakh taka will receive a slightly higher interest rate. The Chief Adviser has approved the proposal to revise the interest rates for national savings schemes. The Ministry of Finance's Internal Revenue Department will issue a notification soon on this matter.

According to sources from the Ministry of Finance, the new interest rates will come into effect on January 1. The rates will be determined based on the average interest rate of 5-year and 2-year Treasury bonds (calculated from the most recent six-month auction results). For investors with seven and a half lakh taka or less, an additional premium of up to 50 basis points will be added to the interest rate, offering them slightly higher returns.

The government has set the potential interest rates for savings certificates for the period from January to June using this new system.

• For a 5-year Bangladesh Savings Certificate, the interest rate for investments up to seven and a half lakh taka will be 12.40%. For investments above this amount, the rate will be 12.37%. Currently, the interest rate for a 5-year savings certificate is 11.28%.
• For a 3-year quarterly profit savings certificate, the interest rate for investments up to seven and a half lakh taka will be 12.30%, and for amounts above that, it will be 12.25%. The current interest rate for this scheme is 11.04%.
• For a 5-year pension savings certificate, investments up to seven and a half lakh taka will receive an interest rate of 12.55%, and for investments above that, the rate will be 12.37%. The current interest rate for this scheme is 11.76%.
• For a 5-year family savings certificate, investments up to seven and a half lakh taka will earn an interest rate of 12.50%, and for amounts above that, the rate will be 12.37%. The current interest rate for this scheme is 11.52%.
• Additionally, for a 3-year Post Office Fixed Deposit, the interest rate for investments up to seven and a half lakh taka will be 12.30%, and for higher investments, it will be 12.25%.

The approved proposal also mentions that the government’s Cash and Debt Management Committee (CDMC) will set the interest rates for various maturity periods of savings certificates, the pre-maturity cash-out interest rate, and premiums for the July-December period in June and for the January-June period in December. However, wage earners bonds, US dollar investment bonds, and US dollar premium bonds will remain outside the scope of these reforms.

Officials from the Ministry of Finance have stated that banks usually offer interest rates of 9–11% on fixed deposits, with some banks offering up to 13%. Currently, the interest rates on savings certificates range from 11% to 11.5%. Previously, savings certificates offered much higher returns than bank fixed deposits. The government is raising the interest rate on savings certificates to align them with the rates offered by banks.

In recent years, the government has reduced its reliance on savings certificates to cover budget deficits. The IMF had also requested that the government reduce the interest it pays on savings certificates each year. However, due to a decrease in revenue collection and a reduction in loans from the banking sector, the government is now shifting back toward borrowing from savings certificates.

In the 2022–23 fiscal year, the net loan amount taken from savings certificates was negative, amounting to 3,347 crore taka. The budget for the previous fiscal year set a target of borrowing 18,000 crore taka in net loans from savings certificates. The revised budget set a negative target of 7,310 crore taka. However, the target has been raised to 15,400 crore taka for the current fiscal year.