Government bonds: five-year yield of 4.5 per cent for retail buyers
In the second quarter of 2026 the Public Debt Administration is offering bonds maturing on 30 July 2030 with a coupon of four and a half per cent, with a minimum order of fifty thousand dinars per auction.
The Public Debt Administration of the Ministry of Finance has scheduled, for the second quarter of 2026, an auction of five-year government bonds with a coupon of 4.5 per cent and maturity on 30 July 2030, according to the auction calendar published on the javnidug.gov.rs portal. The denominations of the issue are 10,000 dinars and 1,000 euros, with a minimum order of five units per auction for any individual or legal entity, meaning a 50,000 dinar (about 426 euros at the NBS mid-rate) outlay for the dinar denomination.
The preliminary level of Serbian public debt on 15 May 2026 stood at 4,841.4 billion dinars (about 41.24 billion euros), equivalent to around 47 per cent of gross domestic product. Finance minister Sinisa Mali told the daily Politika that the Serbian government was making an effort to “shift the structure of indebtedness towards the dinar component and the domestic investor base”, which includes retail buyers.
How the actual yield is calculated
The nominal coupon of 4.5 per cent a year, paid once every twelve months, gives a retail buyer who holds the bond to maturity an annual gross yield of 4.5 per cent on the nominal value. Capital gains tax under the Serbian regime is 15 per cent for individuals, which brings the post-tax net yield down to an effective 3.83 per cent a year on the nominal value. Compared with the average rate on time dinar deposits for households with maturities of one to two years (4.2 per cent gross), the bond offers a higher net yield than deposits at most domestic banks.
On the other hand, a bond sold before maturity carries the risk of a capital loss if market rates between purchase and sale rise, because the fall in secondary market price offsets part of the coupon yield. Prudence Capital analyst Vladimir Krstajic told the portal Biznis.rs that for retail buyers holding to maturity, “the combined net rate above 3.8 per cent is competitive given comparable risk against deposits”.
Who can buy and how
Government bond auctions are run by the Public Debt Administration through the Belgrade Stock Exchange, with technical orders placed through licensed broker-dealers in the register of the Securities Commission. Five banks in Serbia directly allow retail clients to buy bonds through their e-banking apps: Banca Intesa, AIK Banka, Komercijalna Banka, OTP Bank and Erste Bank. Banca Intesa chief executive Dario Scepanovic, in a May statement to the same portal, said the number of retail clients buying government bonds last year had passed 11,000.
Liquidity on the secondary market
Trading in government bonds on the Belgrade Stock Exchange, in the category of bonds running to maturity, accounts for around 17 per cent of total monthly turnover, with average daily trading in May 2026 of 4.2 million euros. The bid-ask spread on the most liquid issues with maturities of two to five years runs at 8 to 12 basis points, a level that lets investors exit a position without a major loss for most average nominal investment amounts. Belgrade Stock Exchange director Sinisa Krneta told the daily Politika that liquidity in government bonds was “operationally at a level that justifies entry for retail buyers with a horizon shorter than maturity”.
Dollar and euro segment
Beyond the dinar issuance, the Public Debt Administration plans three issues of euro-denominated bonds in 2026, with maturities of 3, 7 and 10 years and coupons running between 3.1 and 3.8 per cent depending on tenor. Even though the rates look lower than on the dinar segment, the euro yield is free of FX risk for the user whose savings are primarily held in euros, which is the structure of most Serbian savers. In April 2026 Serbia executed an early buy-back of legacy eurobonds worth 750 million euros, cutting the average rate on its external debt portfolio from 4.1 to 3.7 per cent, according to a Ministry of Finance statement.
Consolidated data on dinar bond ownership show that retail investors account for just 4.8 per cent of the total structure, below the level in Croatia (8.2 per cent) and well below Germany (12 per cent). Former finance minister Dusan Vujovic told the daily Politika that “education on the securities market” was a precondition for raising that share. The next dinar government bond auction, maturing on 30 June 2031, is scheduled for 17 June 2026, according to the Public Debt Administration calendar.
