NS&I withdraws savings certificates from sale
The new Issues of Savings Certificates have been on sale for almost four months (since 12 May 2011) and have been very popular during this time. At the outset NS&I forecast strong sales and the original expectations have now been met. By taking action to withdraw the current Issue, NS&I will ensure that the Net Financing target set by the Chancellor for 2011-12 should not be exceeded.
Jane Platt, Chief Executive, NS&I, said:
“During the almost four months that Savings Certificates have been on sale, there have been approaching 500,000 transactions into the latest Issue of Index-linked Savings Certificates.
“Over this period, we’ve seen significant amounts of money invested into these products. To ensure that we do not exceed the upper end of our Net Financing target range, we’ve taken the decision to withdraw Savings Certificates from general sale at this point.
“The volume of sales over the past few months is such that our forecasts show we were at risk of exceeding the top end of the Net Financing range, so we needed to take action to reduce sales.”
NS&I’s website and call centres stopped taking new sales of Savings Certificates at close of business on 6 September 2011. Postal applications received today (7 September 2011) will be honoured, but all postal applications received after midnight tonight will be returned to the customer.
On maturity, existing Savings Certificate customers can keep their investment for another term of the same length. Alternatively they can reinvest into any of the other Savings Certificate terms and Issues on offer to existing customers – either the 3 or 5 year Issue of Index-linked Savings Certificates or the 2 or 5 year Issue of Fixed Interest Savings Certificates – regardless of which Savings Certificate they currently hold.
Notes to Editors
- Net Financing is the measure of the net change of NS&I funds, meaning total inflows from deposits, retention of maturing monies and capitalised and accrued interest, less the total outflows from withdrawals and interest or Premium Bonds prize draw payments. A positive Net Financing figure represents a positive contribution to government financing. To achieve its Net Financing target of £2 billion in 2011-12, NS&I needs to achieve inflows from deposits of circa £14 billion.
- In line with its normal commercial practice, NS&I does not provide sales figures specific to Savings Certificates, however it will issue its Q2 2011-12 results in November 2011.
- Further information on Savings Certificates can be found here 4. NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to over 26 million customers. All products offer 100% capital security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury