Government-issued retail bond redeemable any month with no penalty. Step-up coupons over 10 years. Backed by full faith of the Singapore government — credit risk is effectively zero.
The Singapore Savings Bond is a long-dated government bond issued monthly by MAS specifically for retail investors. SSBs combine bank-deposit safety, redeemable anytime liquidity, and a step-up coupon structure that rewards longer holding.
Launched in 2015, SSBs are designed for the everyday saver who wants a higher yield than a savings account without taking equity-market risk.
Tenor: 10 years.
Step-up coupons: the interest rate rises in each successive year. Hold the full 10 years and your average yield matches the 10-year Singapore Government Bond yield at issue.
Redeemable any month with no penalty. Principal plus accrued interest paid back; no haircut.
Allotment: monthly issuance, application 1st – 4th business day of each month. Allocation is by quantity (not pricing) — first-come allocation up to a quota per applicant.
Holdings cap: S$200,000 per investor across all outstanding SSBs.
Application via DBS/POSB, OCBC, or UOB internet or mobile banking. No commission or sales charges.
Minimum subscription: S$500, in multiples of S$500.
You need an individual CDP account linked to your bank — set up once.
SRS funds can also buy SSBs, useful for those wanting a low-risk SRS allocation.
Emergency fund layer: redeemable any month means you can park 3 – 6 months of expenses here without losing rates if your money sits.
Savings ladder: stagger purchases across several SSB issues so a tranche matures or can be redeemed each year.
Alternative to T-bills: SSBs lock in a 10-year yield curve, while T-bills reset every 6 months. If rates are falling, SSBs lock in higher yields for longer.
Not ideal for: investors with a long horizon and risk tolerance — broad-market ETFs have higher expected returns over 10+ years.
A 10-year government-issued retail bond, redeemable any month with no penalty. Coupons step up each year so holding the full 10 years gives you an average yield matching the 10-year Singapore Government Bond yield at issue. Government-backed — effectively zero credit risk.
Minimum S$500 per issue, in multiples of S$500. Maximum S$200,000 outstanding per investor across all SSBs.
No — only cash. CPF OA can be used for T-bills (with the 1-month interest gap on each side), but not for SSBs. SRS funds can be used for SSBs.
Use both. SSBs are perfect for emergency-fund overflow (redeem any month, no penalty). T-bills lock in higher short-term yields (currently ~3.5% – 4%) for cash you don't need for 6 – 12 months — and let you use CPF OA, which SSBs don't.