The Hong Kong government announced the terms of the new Silver Bond (Issue No. 03GB2909R, due 2029) on 6 August 2026: a three-year bond with a guaranteed minimum interest rate of 4.25% per annum and a target issue size of HK$50 billion, expandable to HK$55 billion depending on demand. Anyone holding a valid Hong Kong identity card and born on or before 31 December 1967 can subscribe between 9am on 21 August 2026 and 2pm on 4 September 2026, through a placing bank or a designated securities broker. The expected issue date is 15 September 2026.
Below are the full terms, the eligibility rules and how the interest is calculated — plus one point business owners regularly get wrong: the Silver Bond can only be subscribed for by an individual, never in a company's name.
Silver Bond 2026 at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issue number | 03GB2909R (due 2029) |
| Target issue size | HK$50 billion (up to HK$55 billion) |
| Tenor | 3 years |
| Guaranteed minimum rate | 4.25% per annum |
| Floating rate | Linked to local inflation; the higher of the two applies |
| Interest payments | Every 6 months |
| Denomination | HK$10,000 per unit |
| Maximum per person | 100 units (HK$1 million) |
| Subscription period | 9am 21 Aug 2026 to 2pm 4 Sep 2026 |
| Expected issue date | 15 September 2026 |
| Where to apply | Placing banks and designated securities brokers |
| Secondary market | None; not listed on any exchange |
This batch is the retail component of the government's Infrastructure Bond Programme, with proceeds credited to the Capital Works Reserve Fund and applied to one or more eligible projects under the Infrastructure Bond Framework.
The issue size, denomination, per-person cap and allocation mechanism are ultimately governed by the issue circular, which the government uploads on the day subscription opens (21 August 2026). The table above summarises the terms announced on 6 August.
Eligibility: Individuals Only — a Company Cannot Subscribe
There are two core eligibility conditions: you must hold a valid Hong Kong identity card, and you must have been born on or before 31 December 1967. Eligibility attaches to the person, not to wealth, investment experience or account size. Beyond those two, applicants also have to give the confirmations set out in the issue circular regarding the United States and Canada — broadly, that they are not located in either, are not a U.S. Person or a Canadian resident, and are not acting as agent for one.
That matters if you run a business. Whether you operate a limited company or an unlimited company, the company itself is not a person holding a Hong Kong identity card, so it cannot subscribe for Silver Bonds — and you cannot use a company name to file an extra application and claim a larger allocation. Shareholders, directors or proprietors who meet the age requirement each apply personally, one application each.
The other frequent mistake is duplicate applications. Each person may submit one application only. If the same person applies through several banks or brokers, every one of those applications is rejected — not merely the extras.
How the Interest Works: the Higher of Floor and Inflation
Interest is paid every six months, and each payment uses whichever of the following is higher:
- the fixed guaranteed rate, 4.25% per annum for this batch; or
- a floating rate, being the arithmetic average of the year-on-year rates of change in Hong Kong's Composite Consumer Price Index for the six most recent months preceding the interest determination date, taken to two decimal places.
So if that six-month average floating rate comes out above 4.25% you receive the floating rate, and if it comes out below you still receive 4.25%. Note that the comparison is against that averaged figure, not against any single month's headline inflation reading. That floor is the main reason the Silver Bond appeals to retirees.
Guaranteed rates across recent batches:
| Year of issue | Guaranteed rate |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 3.5% |
| 2022 | 4% |
| 2023 | 5% |
| 2024 | 4% |
| 2025 | 3.85% |
| 2026 | 4.25% |
This year's 4.25% is up from 3.85% last year. For context, the 2025 batch was ultimately issued at HK$55 billion against subscriptions of more than HK$98 billion — demand has consistently exceeded supply.
The Timeline
- 13 August 2026 — the list of placing banks and designated securities brokers is expected to be published.
- 21 August 2026, 9am — subscription opens; the issue circular and programme circular go up the same day.
- 4 September 2026, 2pm — subscription closes.
- 15 September 2026 — expected issue date; interest is then paid every six months.
The government reserves the right to change these dates, and will announce any change.
If total subscriptions exceed the issue size, allocation follows the mechanism set out in the issue circular. Past practice has been to give every eligible applicant a basic allocation first and then deal with the remainder by ballot or successive rounds — in the 2025 batch, full allocation up to a threshold followed by a ballot for one further unit. This year's mechanism is governed by the circular published on 21 August. On past arrangements, applying on day one rather than the last day does not improve your allocation.
No Secondary Market, but You Can Redeem Early
Silver Bonds are not listed on any exchange and there is no secondary market, and they cannot be transferred at all except to a successor under succession law — so you cannot sell them to another investor. Instead, a holder may redeem early with the government before maturity: submit the request through your placing bank or designated securities broker on any business day, and it settles on the third business day after the request is received, at par value plus accrued but unpaid interest, with no exposure to price swings.
One caveat that matters: accrued interest on an early redemption is calculated at the fixed 4.25% per annum rate up to, but excluding, the settlement date — not at the potentially higher floating rate. So redeeming early during a period when inflation has pushed the floating rate above the floor does not earn you that higher rate on the accrued portion.
Liquidity, in other words, comes from the government's redemption arrangement rather than from market trading. That is a large part of why the instrument is treated as low risk.
For Business Owners: Whose Money Is Subscribing?
Because only individuals can subscribe, a business owner planning to use business profits has to move that money out of the company and into personal hands first — legitimately, and on the record. In practice that means one of three things: director's salary, a dividend distribution, or repayment of a director's current account. Each is treated differently in the accounts and for tax, and simply transferring cash out of the company bank account without the corresponding paperwork tends to resurface at year end as a director's loan balance nobody can explain.
Subscribing is a personal financial decision; the way the money leaves the company is a bookkeeping one. If you are unsure which route applies, or your records don't cleanly separate company from personal spending, our accounting and tax filing team can sort it out — and where a dividend resolution or director's remuneration paperwork is needed, that falls under company secretarial services.
The line between company money and owner's money differs sharply between the two structures: an unlimited company's proprietor cannot deduct personal expenses, while a limited company's directors' remuneration is a deductible company expense. Our comparison of limited vs unlimited companies covers that difference in full.
Where to Check the Official Terms
The offering terms, the list of placing banks and designated securities brokers, and the issue and programme circulars are all published on the Hong Kong Government Bonds website (hkgb.gov.hk) and by the HKMA — those versions govern. This article summarises the announced terms for general information only and is not investment advice; read the official circulars before subscribing.
