Belgium Sells Record €22 Billion Retail Bond to Investors
- More than 600,000 savers signed up for the one-year notes
- Sale was intended to ‘stimulate competition’: finance ministry
The stock exchange building in Brussels.
Photographer: James Arthur Gekiere/AFP/Getty Images
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Belgium sold €21.9 billion euros ($23.7 billion) of bonds to households on Monday, Europe’s biggest-ever debt offering targeted exclusively at retail investors, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as the nation sent a message to banks that have been slow to raise saving rates.
More than 600,000 people poured into one-year note, according to a statement from the Belgian Debt Agency. The 3.3% coupon on the debt compares with an average rate of 3.13% for Belgian deposits of up to one year, European Central Bank data show.