Since the introduction of the Central Government Securities Settlement System (CGSS) in September 1997, central government bonds have been issued in the book-entry form. In October 2001, Treasury bills were added to the system and have been issued in the book-entry form since then. The CGSS is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) for the issuance, transfer, redemption, and interest payment of central government bonds in the form of accounting entries on computer records.

Ownership of book-entry central government securities is recorded in a two-tier system of accounts. Only the clearing banks are eligible to have book-entry bond accounts and fund accounts (also serve as reserve balances) directly with the Treasury Department of the Bank. All other individuals or entities are required to hold such accounts with the clearing banks.

Currently, book-entry transactions within a clearing bank can be made on a delivery-versus-payment (DVP) basis while those between clearing banks cannot. To reduce the settlement risk in interbank transactions, the Bank plans to link the CGSS with CIFS to allow clearing banks to handle related settlements on DVP basis.

Link to related Government Securities Statistics