Govt bonds
Treasury Bills (T-bills)
Short-term Singapore Government securities of 6 or 12 months, bought at a discount and redeemed at full face value.
What it is
In plain language.
Treasury Bills are short-dated Singapore Government Securities with tenors of 6 months or 1 year. They pay no coupon; instead you buy them below face value and receive the full face value at maturity, and the difference is your return.
Because they are issued by the Singapore Government, they carry the same top-tier credit standing as other SGS. They are popular with savers looking for a safe place to hold cash for a defined short period.
How it works
In Singapore, in practice.
T-bills are sold through regular auctions announced by MAS. You can apply with cash through DBS, OCBC, or UOB internet banking and ATMs, with CPF Investment Scheme funds (CPF-OA and CPF-SA) through your CPFIS agent bank, or with SRS funds via your SRS operator.
You can place a non-competitive bid, where you accept the auction-determined yield, or a competitive bid, where you specify the maximum yield you will accept. Non-competitive bids are allotted first, up to a cap, then balloted if oversubscribed. The minimum application is S$1,000, in multiples of S$1,000.
At maturity the face value is paid back automatically. If you need the money earlier you can sell in the secondary market through a bank, but the price you get will depend on prevailing rates and is not guaranteed to equal what you paid.
Run the numbers
See it in your own figures.
Leave it in CPF, or invest it?
Your CPF Ordinary Account earns a guaranteed 2.5% floor. Investing the same sum through CPFIS could earn more, or less. Projected, not guaranteed.
Where it sits
Its place in the instrument map.
A sound plan is built in layers, from a guaranteed base up to small, high-risk satellites. This is the role Treasury Bills (T-bills) plays, and the layers around it.
Small, high-risk positions you could afford to lose entirely.
Direct stocks and REITs held for long-run growth.
Funds, ETFs, and bonds that spread risk across many holdings.
Government-backed income and the SRS tax wrapper.
Guaranteed and liquid: your CPF base and emergency cash sit here.
The trade-offs
What it does well, and what to watch.
Good for
- Holding a known sum safely for 6 to 12 months at a government-backed rate
- Savers comfortable holding to maturity who want a defined short tenor
- Putting idle CPF-OA or SRS cash to work in a low-risk instrument
Watch outs
- The yield is set at auction and is not known until results are out, so a competitive bid that is too aggressive can miss allotment entirely
- Selling before maturity means a market price that can be below your purchase price
- Using CPF-OA carries an opportunity cost: OA already earns a guaranteed 2.5% floor, so a T-bill only helps if its yield clears that hurdle after any agent-bank charges. Using CPF-SA carries an even higher hurdle, since SA savings earn a higher floor rate.
- There is no interim interest; the entire return is the discount captured at maturity
In the market
What this looks like.
Real Singapore examples, shown to make the instrument concrete. These are illustrative, not endorsements.
How it connects
Instruments that work with this.
Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB)
A government-issued savings bond you can buy from S$500 and redeem any month with no loss of principal.
Full breakdown Govt bondsSGS Bonds (Singapore Government Securities)
Longer-dated government bonds, from 2 up to 50 years, that pay a fixed coupon twice a year.
Full breakdown CPFCPF Ordinary Account (OA)
The CPF account you can use for housing, insurance, and approved investments, earning a guaranteed 2.5% floor.
Full breakdown CashHigh-yield / bonus-interest savings accounts
Everyday bank accounts that pay a higher headline rate when you meet monthly conditions like crediting salary, spending on a card, or paying bills.
Full breakdownSources
Where the facts come from.
- T-bills are short-term Singapore Government Securities (6-month and 1-year tenors) issued at a discount to face value, applied for via auction with a S$1,000 minimum.https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/treasury-bills
- CPF Ordinary Account earns a guaranteed 2.5% per annum floor, the benchmark to weigh against when using CPF-OA for T-bills.SingaporeConfig.cpfInterestRates.OA
See where Treasury Bills (T-bills) fits your own plan.
This is educational, not advice. When you want a detailed look at how this fits your situation, a licensed adviser will map it to your income, CPF, and goals.