New silver bond to take applications in two weeks
Officials announced on Tuesday that a new batch of inflation-linked silver bonds offering the highest minimum interest rate yet will start accepting subscriptions on August 23.  The new tranche, which is only available for people aged 60 or above, will also have a larger issuance size compared to last year's HK$30 billion.  The issuance target this time has been set at HK$35 billion and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said this can be raised to a maximum of HK$45 billion, depending on demand.  The interest rate floor has been lifted from 3.5 percent last year, to four percent.  "An increase in issuance size aims to promote greater participation by senior citizens and a higher fixed rate aims to benefit senior citizens by way of enhanced guaranteed return in this highly uncertain investment environment," said Clara Chan, HKMA's executive director. Each lot of the new silver bond has been set at HK$10,000 and allocation for each applicant will be capped at HK$1 million to prevent "an over-concentration of holdings by a small number of investors", the HKMA said.  The new batch will mature in three years, with interest paid every six months. Holders will not be allowed to sell their bonds to other investors before maturity, but will be able to sell them back to the government.  The subscription period will end on September 2 and the bond is scheduled to be issued on September 14.