Sales of Canada Savings Bonds delayed to Friday amid market chaos
09.10.2008 06:00
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- Source: cbc.ca
Sales of one of the country's favourite investments, Canada Savings Bonds, will open Friday after Monday's scheduled start was delayed amid worldwide turmoil in credit markets. The bonds, a Canadian tradition since 1946, are backed by the government and promoted as a foolproof way for small investors to save. They are put on sale each fall. Late Tuesday, the Department of Finance's website posted the date and the interest rates. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he hoped to have them on sale Wednesday. 'This is unprecedented as far as I know.'—Evelyn Jacks, Winnipeg-based tax expert"We were setting the rate, and there's been some fluctuations in market rates, as you know, recently," he told CBC News on Tuesday afternoon in explanation of the delay. "So we wanted to make sure that the rate set for Canada Savings Bonds would be a reasonable rate that would make them attractive." Delay may be tied to election: plannerPrivate financial specialists said the postponement was highly unusual. "I would call it an eyebrow-raiser, for sure," said Evelyn Jacks, a tax expert based in Winnipeg. "This is unprecedented as far as I know." She added that it "certainly speaks to the unprecedented kinds of activities that we're seeing on the marketplace in the last couple of weeks." Margaret Koniuck, a financial planner in Winnipeg, said the delay may also be tied to the coming federal election. The government may be trying to avoid any negative criticism of the way it is dealing with a global financial crisis, she said. "It does certainly make one stop and wonder what's going on," she told CBC News. While many Canadians buy CSBs through payroll savings programs every year, their overall popularity has been dwindling, Koniuck said. | Canada Savings Bond Series 114 | Canada Premium Bond Series 64 |
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Year beginning | Annual interest rate | Average annual rate of return if held to Nov. 1 of the following year | Annual interest rate | Average annual compound rate of return if held to Nov. 1 of the following year |
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| Nov. 1, 2008 | 2% | 2% | 2.35% | 2.35% |
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| Nov. 1, 2009 | TBA | TBA | 2.50% | 2.42% |
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| Nov. 1, 2010 | TBA | TBA | 2.65% | 2.5% |
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