BTp Valore, the guide: guaranteed rate at 3.35 per cent in the first three years

A slightly higher coupon at the beginning, somewhat lower at the end but with a more generous loyalty premium. Now on offer is the quarto BTp Valore with the minimum guaranteed rates announced by the Treasury: an instrument that is very similar to its more immediate predecessor, offered two months ago.

The duration is the same, six years, and the yield schedule is similar, with the step-up mechanism that raises the coupon in the middle of the period: for the first three years, the gross annual yield will be 3.35%, against 3.25% in the last issue, and will rise in the second three years to 3.90%, one decimal place below the 4% offered by the BTp at the end of February. Completing the picture is the 0.8% premium reserved for those who join in the coming week and keep the bond in their portfolio until maturity.

The numbers of thenew BTp Valore reflect, as always, the overall picture of bond yields, which after the drop in mid-March have returned very close to the levels of two months ago; the combination of annual coupons and loyalty premium then builds up a small premium over ordinary bonds of similar duration.

The rates announced by the Treasury, it should be remembered, are the guaranteed minimums, and may therefore only be revised upwards at the end of the issue next week in the event of important news on the markets. The coupon, in keeping with the tradition of the BTp Valore, will be quarterly, thus intensifying the six-monthly rhythm typical of other government bonds. The minimum investment is one thousand euro, and there is no maximum limit: the regulation always provides for the theoretical possibility of an early closure, which, however, does not jeopardise applications that arrive on time and are destined to be fully satisfied.

The commission-free purchase, subsidised taxation at 12.5 per cent, and exemption from inheritance tax are the key features that determine the tax advantage of BTp. Up to EUR 50,000, moreover, government bonds will be excluded from the calculation of the Isee, presumably from next year in light of the implementing decree that still needs to be passed to make the novelty envisaged by the last budget law operative.