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Yes, in terms of default risk: Treasury Bonds are issued by Bangladesh Bank on behalf of the Government, which guarantees your principal and coupon payments. Held to maturity, you receive the full face value. If you sell before maturity in the secondary market, the price depends on market yields at the time and may be higher or lower than what you paid.

A Government Security is a tradable instrument issued by a sovereign government to acknowledge its debt obligation. These can be short-term (Treasury Bills, or T-Bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long-term (Government Bonds, with original maturities of one year or more).

Under an agreement between the Government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Bank in 1985 (Treasury Rules 1998, Appendix-1, Section-3) and the Bangladesh Bank Order 1972 (Article 20), Bangladesh Bank is authorised to issue new loans and manage public debt on behalf of the Government.

Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are short-term, up to one year: 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bills, auctioned every Sunday.

Bangladesh Government Treasury Bonds (BGTBs) are long-term, from 2 to 20 years:

• 2-year — 1st Tuesday of every month
• 5-year — 2nd Tuesday of every month
• 10-year — 3rd Tuesday of every month
• 15-year and 20-year — 4th Tuesday of every month

The minimum bid is ৳1,00,000 (1 lac) and its multiples.

1. Uniform price auction
2. Multiple price auction

Primary Dealers (PDs) place bids in the auction. Commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies, corporates, individuals, provident funds and others can participate through PDs.

• Individuals and institutions residing in Bangladesh, including banks, NBFIs and insurance companies
• Corporate bodies
• Authorities managing provident funds, pension funds and similar

Yes. Individuals can buy through a brokerage firm and Primary Dealers/scheduled banks in auctions, and from any brokerage firm and PDs/banks/NBFIs in the secondary market.

Brokerage firms, scheduled banks and financial institutions with accounts at Bangladesh Bank’s Motijheel Office can open a Business Partner Identification (BP ID) for customers in Bangladesh Bank’s Market Infrastructure (MI) Module to participate in auctions. Individuals can also buy or sell in the secondary market through a brokerage firm’s Order Management System (OMS) — such as Amar Biniyog — over the counter (OTC), or through the MI module’s Trader Work Station (TWS).

Yes. Foreign and non-resident individuals and institutions can buy BGTBs in the primary and secondary markets through a brokerage firm, Primary Dealers and other banks. Payment must come from a Non-resident Foreign Currency Account or a Non-resident Investor’s Taka Account (NITA) in Bangladesh. Coupons and resale/redemption proceeds are freely transferable abroad after applicable taxes, and bonds can be resold any time with no lock-in period. Our relationship team regularly helps NRB investors through the process — talk to us or see NRB Invest.

No. However, holders can sell their securities in the OTC and secondary markets.

Settlement is based on Delivery versus Payment (DvP): the seller’s securities and the buyer’s funds are transferred simultaneously, which removes settlement risk.

Only banks and financial institutions can use Government Securities as collateral to borrow in the repo market. Brokerage firms generally cannot accept them as collateral.