Singapore Savings Bond demand falls short by over S$200 million; 10-year return down at 2.69%

[SINGAPORE] The latest Singapore Savings Bond (SSB) tranche allotted on Monday (Apr 28) saw applications fall short of the S$700 million on offer by S$268.5 million, with a total of S$431.5 million applied for.

Of this amount, S$400.8 million was successfully applied for within individual allotment limits, with the amount fully allotted, according to data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The May 2025 issuance offers a 10-year average return of 2.69 per cent and a first-year interest rate of 2.49 per cent. Both are down from April’s tranche, which offered a 10-year average return of 2.85 per cent and a first-year interest rate of 2.73 per cent.

Demand sank from the April 2025 offering, which recorded S$677.9 million in total applications for the S$700 million on offer, with S$642.7 million allotted.

SSBs take their interest rates from the average yields of Singapore government bonds from the month before.

They are subject to adjustments, however, to ensure that interest rates do not dip over time when the yield curve is inverted – which is when yields of short-dated bills exceed those of longer-dated bonds.

The government may make adjustments to ensure that returns do not step down before SSBs mature, so as to provide investors with a return that increases across their holding periods.

Applications for this tranche closed on Apr 25, with the bonds set to be issued on May 2.