Translated material
UK to pay off World War I bond debts
The UK Treasury plans to spend 218 million pounds sterling (about $350 million) in February 2015 to buy back securities issued to refinance debt raised during the First World War.
At that time, the British government actively attracted public funds for military needs. Such debt obligations, unlike traditional bonds, did not have maturity dates.
The UK Treasury decided to make the first payment on such securities in 67 years, writes the Financial Times, in order to benefit from the low interest rates that have prevailed in global financial markets.
During World War I, the British government carried out major campaigns in which it encouraged the public to make patriotic investments in the war effort by purchasing debt securities.
- According to the UK Treasury, a total of 11,200 investors can claim payments on debt obligations dating back to the First World War, more than 90% of whom are holders of securities worth less than 10,000 pounds sterling. The annual interest rate on such obligations is 4%.
- The debt obligations announced by the British Treasury represent only a fraction of the debt associated with the country's participation in the First World War. The total amount of government borrowing made during this period is about £2 billion.