Net sales of the state-run savings instruments in the first half surpassed the target set for entire fiscal year (FY) 2020-21, according to official statistics.
According to the Department of National Savings (DNS) data, the net sales of savings certificates were Tk 204.87 billion during the July-December period.
The government's net borrowing target from savings tools is Tk 200 billion for this fiscal, it said.
Officials said the yield rates of different savings certificates are attractive. So, savers are investing more in these schemes.
Many savers have reinvested in savings instruments as their schemes reached maturity. It is another reason for increased sales, they added.
The gross sales of savings schemes were Tk 549.76 billion during the July-December period of FY '21, whereas encashment was Tk 344.89 billion.
On the other hand, the net sales of savings schemes were Tk 54.33 billion in the same period of FY 2019-20.
The gross sales were Tk 342.11 billion and encashment was Tk 287.78 billion during the period.
Data shows the payment of yield was Tk 162.63 billion in the first six months of FY '21. It was Tk 156.95 billion in the same period of FY '20.
When asked, officials said the DNS introduced an online database system in 2019 that had an impact on the overall sale of savings certificates in FY '20.
Investors were not familiar with the new process. Many of them had no taxpayer's identification number (TIN), which is mandatory for the online system.
But the savers are gradually adapting to the new mandatory provision of buying schemes like providing national identity (NID) number, income-tax certificate and depositing money through bank cheque, they said.
The DNS launched the database system in February 2019 and implemented it countrywide in July.
It sells four types of savings certificates with their yield rates are up to 11.76 per cent.
The entity also sells different types of bonds to local and expatriate Bangladeshis.
Currently, an estimated 20-million investors are involved in this sector.
arafataradhaka@gmail.com