Key Details

SGS T-bills are fully backed by the Singapore Government.

Issuer

Government of Singapore

Sovereign credit rating

AAA

Tenor

6 months or 1 year

Currency

SGD

Interest rate

No coupon. Issued at a discount to the face value

Interest payments

Upon maturity, investors receive the face value

Compare with SGS, MAS Bills and MAS FRN 

Buying and Selling

T-bills are issued through auctions. Auctions typically take place 3 business days before issuance and are announced on the SGS website 5 business days before the auction.

You can submit your application through any of the approved primary dealers.

Frequency of issuance

Quarterly, according to the issuance calendar.

Method of sale

Uniform price auction - investors can submit competitive or non-competitive bids.

Bid format

In yield terms, up to 2 decimal places.

Investment amount

S$1,000, and in multiples of S$1,000.
There is no maximum amount an institution can hold, but there are limits for each auction.

Typical issue size

S$2 billion to S$4 billion.

Who can buy

All institutions and individuals, including non-residents.

Settlement

• T+3 for auctions; T+1 in the secondary market on a delivery-versus-payment (DVP) basis.
• Settled via the MAS Electronic Payment System (MEPS+).

Custody

By book entry in the investor's custody account.

 

• Institutions without a MEPS+ account need to open an SGS account with any primary dealer.
• Institutions can also use their Clearstream and Euroclear accounts to custodise SGS.

Secondary market trading

• Primary dealers: Bloomberg E-bond platform, brokers.
• Institutional investors: over-the-counter and through primary dealers' dealer-to-client platforms.

Trading hours are from 9am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4:30pm.

Tax

There is no capital gains tax in Singapore.

For residential financial institutions (excluding Financial Sector Incentive - Standard Tier companies) and corporations, interest income is taxed at a concessionary rate of 10% for SGS issued up to 31 Dec 2023.

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