They didn’t dare comment on the subject yesterday when the 15-day subscription period opened, but the Treasury and the finance ministry were talking about a short subscription period. And while the forecast was for the issue to close around the middle of next week, mainly because it had opened at the weekend, the authorities were optimistic about the attractiveness of the product.

They were right. The €150m was delivered on the morning of Friday 16 January. Much to the satisfaction of Finance Minister Gilles Roth (CSV). “The speed with which the entire issue was subscribed testifies to the public’s confidence in the government’s actions and the soundness of our public finances, as well as their willingness to participate in financing our national security. This success confirms the relevance of the defence bond as an innovative and accessible tool, as well as the ability of the treasury and our financial centre to offer innovative solutions that meet today’s challenges,” the minister said at the close.

Housing and climate change in the spotlight

Any reason to regret not trying to raise more money? No, said the minister yesterday, who felt that the sum was sufficient for the needs to be covered over the coming months. He confessed, however, that this issue aimed at popular savings was also a trial balloon to see if the interest was there and if, in the future, similar bonds could not be issued to quickly mobilise, and without raising public finances, funds for housing or financing the energy transition.

The €150m defence bond, with a three-year maturity and a fixed interest rate of 2.25%, has been structured to ensure broad accessibility, with subscription tranches starting from €1,000 and a ceiling of €150,000 per person and per bank. Interest on the bond is exempt from income tax for Luxembourg residents.

The bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). Spuerkeess, BGL BNP Paribas, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (Bil), Banque de Luxembourg and Banque Raiffeisen were partners in this transaction.