Finance
Originally bonds could be purchased as in units of five Irish pounds, with a minimum purchase of £10. Today the unit price is 6.25 Euros (equivalent to IR£4.92 at the final fixed exchange rate) and a minimum purchase of €25 is required. In September 2009 the Prize Bond fund exceeded €1bn for the first time.
The weekly draw is held on Fridays at 12:30 in the General Post Office, Dublin. Prizes range from just €50 (it was reduced from €75 prior to January 2013) to a jackpot of €20,000 except for the last draw in every month when the jackpot is €1,000,000. Typically (2011) each weekly draw awards over 6,000 prizes with a total value about €0.5m (or about €1.5m for the month-end draw). The annual prize giveaway is currently 3.0% of the total fund. Winnings are tax free within Ireland.
There have been some concerns that the bonds do not represent value for money for the government. Of particular concern is the cost of administration relative to the cost of interest on borrowings.
Read more about this topic: Prize Bond
Famous quotes containing the word finance:
“A bank is a confidence trick. If you put up the right signs, the wizards of finance themselves will come in and ask you to take their money.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capitalism is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun, in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)
“There is an enormous chasm between the relatively rich and powerful people who make decisions in government, business, and finance and our poorer neighbors who must depend on these decisions to alleviate the problems caused by their lack of power and influence.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)