Bangladesh Bank is currently in the process of upgrading its treasury bond management software to address delays in the transfer of these government securities to beneficiary owner (BO) accounts following their purchase by individual investors.

The central bank sent a letter to the chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) last week informing of this initiative.

Due to the software upgradation process, the transfer of treasury bonds has been suspended since May 26.

However, associated systems have been kept running, such as for secondary trading and investor participation in primary auctions for treasury bonds.

The central bank hopes to bring the upgraded software online from June 2.

The banking regulator took up this initiative as some investors were facing long delays in getting treasury bonds upon their purchase though the existing system.

A top official of a stock brokerage told The Daily Star yesterday that although some investors had bought treasury bonds in recent weeks, it was not showing up in their BO accounts.

This was creating confusion among the investors over whether their payments had gone through, whether the system had registered their purchase orders and whether the treasury bonds would indeed be transferred to their BO accounts.

However, brokers assured them that the delay was just a technical issue.

As such, the central bank's decision to upgrade the treasury bond management software will give relief to the investors as it will expedite the transfer of the bonds to their BO accounts, said the official.

Treasury bonds made their debut at Dhaka Stock Exchange on October 11, 2022, offering a new product to investors in a market that had limited investment options.