Part of efforts to discourage import of the precious metal and curb its damaging impact on trade balance.

The government said on Friday that it will launch the next tranche of sovereign gold bonds on December 24, offering a 2.5% annual rate of interest to investors. This is part of the government’s efforts to discourage import of the precious metal and curb its damaging impact on trade balance.

Applications for the bond will be accepted from December 24 to December 28, according to an official statement. The bonds will be issued to eligible applicants on January 1, 2019.

The issue price of the bond will be Rs 3,119 per gram. However, those applying online and paying through digital mode will be entitled to a `50-discount (issue price for them would be `3,069/gram).

The investors will get the interest payable semi-annually on the nominal value of investment.

The government has budgetted to garner as much as `5,000 crore from all the three gold schemes this fiscal — the same as 2017-18 (revised estimate). The sovereign gold bond, gold monetisation scheme and Indian gold coin were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late 2015.

Courtesy by : Financial Express