Kathmandu- The Public Debt Management Office has issued Citizens Savings Bonds worth Rs 3 billion and Foreign Employment Savings Bonds worth Rs 500 million. The Office announced this through a notice today. Both bonds have tenure of five years, with an interest rate of 7% for the Citizens Bond and 8.5% for the Foreign Employment Bond. The sale for both bonds will run from February 27 to March 28. However, the sale may close before the deadline if the Office receives applications equivalent to the total issuance amount before March 28. The interest on the bonds will be directly deposited into the purchaser’s bank account every six months. Income tax will be applied to the interest income. The minimum purchase amount is Rs 10,000, and the maximum purchase amount is the total issue amount, but it must be in multiples of Rs 10,000, with any remaining amount being rounded off. The first applicant is eligible for the first purchase. It is said that due to insufficient public awareness of the benefits of the Foreign Employment Savings Bond, its demand has been low. For the Foreign Employment Bond issued on November 27, 2024, the Office received applications for only around 12% of the available bonds. The interest rates for these government savings instruments exceed by 2 to 2.5% the rates currently offered by banks and financial institutions for fixed deposits.