Gold bonds eligible for trading from Wednesday: RBI

Mumbai: Reserve Bank Monday said sovereign gold bonds (SGB) issued last month will be eligible for trading on stock exchanges from Wednesday.

"From October 19, 2016, the Sovereign Gold Bonds issued on September 30, 2016 held in dematerialised form shall be eligible for trading on stock exchanges...," the RBI said.

SGB 2016-17 - Series II was announced by the government on August 29. The fifth tranche of the bond was open for subscription from September 01, 2016 to September 09, 2016.

SGB, an alternative mode of investment to physical gold, was launched in November last year.

There were more than 2 lakh applications for the fifth tranche of SGB.

The government proposes to come up with more tranches in 2016-17.

The aggressive marketing of the product by government including through its receiving offices, like banks, post offices, NSE and BSE helped in popularising the bonds.

SGB earns an interest rate of 2.75 percent per annum, semi-annually payable on initial investment.