Secondary transaction of the government’s fixed income tradable securities increased by around 62 per cent in the past calendar year, according to the latest statistics released by the central bank.
It showed that treasury bills and bonds worth around Tk 1.83 trillion was transacted in the last year which was around Tk 1.13 trillion in 2020.
Treasury bills are short-term fixed income securities and treasury bonds are long-term in nature.
The government used to sell these securities to borrow from the financial market with a fixed return. Short-term securities are sold to meet the regular spending of the government while long-term securities are used to finance the budget deficit.
Selected commercial banks are now authorised primary dealers (PDs) to purchase the bills and bonds directly through the auction conducted by the central bank.
Other banks and financial institutions are allowed to purchase and sale the bills and bonds among themselves in the secondary market as a secure investment. Individuals can also invest in these fixed-income securities.
Bangladesh Bank statistics also showed that secondary transaction of the treasury bills and bonds was Tk 382.70 billion in the first quarter of the year which came down to Tk 125.14 billion in the second quarter.
In the third quarter of the year, the secondary transaction regained and increased to Tk 387.04 billion.
In the last of the final quarter of the year, the transaction jumped by around three-fold to Tk 985.41 billion.
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