Bailout bond is a hostage to fortune

APPARENTLY, some people already have euro signs flickering in their eyes. Your front page (April 30) thundered: ‘Bond to bail out state offers 50% return in 10 years’.

Let’s try to put that into arithmetical perspective.

The promised return is based on a compound interest rate of just slightly over 4% per annum. When the appropriate tax is deducted, the return will drop to just very slightly under 4% per annum.