New government bonds yield a lot less interest than the previous ones

Today the Debt Agency has announced that the new government bond will yield a gross interest of 2.60 percent over 5 years. The 8-year term will yield an interest rate of 2.90 percent. Subtract the withholding tax of 30 percent and you arrive at net interest of 1.82 and 2.03 percent respectively.

That is therefore a lot less interesting than the previous government bond, which gave 2.81 percent interest. It is also less interesting than various savings accounts, because banks have recently increased their savings interest rates to 2 percent or more.

Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) still promotes government bonds as a savings product that offers a guaranteed return for several years. Anyone who subscribes to government bonds will be assured of the current interest rate in the coming years, even if it were to fall again.