Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 04, 2004
Chinese citizens prefer low risk investment
Mar. 1 was the first sales day of 2004' first-round certificate treasury bonds and many banks' sales outlets finished selling their underwriting amount by noon.
Mar. 1 was the first sales day of 2004' first-round certificate treasury bonds and many banks' sales outlets finished selling their underwriting amount by noon.
The three-year treasury notes were the most welcome. Many savings banks sold out 1 million in two hours. News from the Beijing branches of ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), BOC (Bank of China), ABC (Agricultural Bank of China) and CBC (Construction Bank of China) said the sales volume had reached 60 percent- 80 percent of the circulation.
Employees at the banks said treasury notes are welcome because they generate steady returns with very low risks. Compared with the interest rates of last year's four rounds certificate bonds, this year's interest rate increased 0.2 percentage points, making it more attractive.
Monetary funds are different from other funds in that they are mainly invested in short-term financial products such as low-risky notes, central bank bills and stock buyback. They are also called "quasi-savings products" and their main characteristics are "secured principal, convenience as that of current deposit and returns as that of time deposit". Its profit probability is close to 100 percent and estimated return ratio ranges between 2 percent and 2.5 percent - higher than the interest rate of one-year term deposit. It caters especially to investors who are after low risk, high liquidity and steady returns.
Regarding the prosperous sales situation, financing experts point out that ordinary people show high endorsement of traditional investment means and are not very susceptible to the newly emerging financial products.