NS&I to launch new British Savings Bonds in April – will it offer a bumper rate?

The Chancellor announced in the Budget that National Savings and Investment will release new British Savings Bonds next month.

The bonds will have a fixed term of three years and NS&I confirmed they will be on sale from early April.

The interest rate has not yet been announced, but NS&I said it aims for them to be priced at “mid-market relative to similar products.”

The UK Savings Bonds will be new three-year fixed rate issues of NS&I Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds, which were last on sale in 2019.

They will offer savers a guaranteed rate for three years on investments between £500 and £1 million.

The money held in the bonds will be “invested back into supporting the UK”, NS&I said, although no clearer details are currently being offered.

Alongside the three-year fixed rate bond, the Chancellor announced that NS&I will have a net funding target of £9 billion by 2024-25, with generous headroom of plus or minus £4 billion.

British savings bonds will be included in this target, but green bonds will not, as they are outside the net funding target.

This is £1.5bn more than last year’s net funding target of £7.5bn, which had a reserve of around £3bn, although it is currently ahead of this sum of £10.9bn.

NS&I already has three-year fixed rate bonds on its Green Savings Bonds paying 2.95 per cent.

Given how low this rate is, having been reduced twice from 5.7 per cent in August 2023, it is anticipated that the British Savings Bond rate will be more attractive in generating interest from savers for such a specific term. in a product.

Money invested in Green Savings Bonds goes towards projects such as making transport greener, using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, preventing pollution, using energy more efficiently, protecting natural resources and adapting to a changing climate.

Mark Hicks, director of Active Savings at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘The savings landscape has a new British milestone, with a UK savings bond from NS&I, which will offer a guaranteed savings rate for three years.

“All eyes will be on the available interest rate, because even savers who want to buy British money with their cash won’t want to accept a disappointing exchange rate in return.”

The best three-year fixed rate bond on This is Money’s independent savings desks pays 4.65 and is offered by Hampshire Trust bank. Savers can still get more than 5 per cent on one-year fixed rates.

Hicks adds: “With the Bank of England set to cut rates in the coming months, savers will have to think carefully about whether they want to wait for this bonus, without any certainty about the performance of the offer, or fix it now, while still can.” secure a great rate.

‘It’s also worth noting that most savers are currently choosing easy access and shorter-term fixed rates.

“Given that this is a three-year bond, it will have to be a very attractive rate to inspire a lot of interest among savers.”