National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has confirmed that its inflation-linked Savings Certificates are unlikely to be offered to customers during the 2012-13 financial year.

NS&I offer the products depending on how much the Treasury agrees that their Net Financing Target should be, unlike normal banks and building societies that run normal sales targets. The Net Financing Target dictates how much money NS&I is expected to raise each year.

It is based on the balance on a balance between the interests of taxpayers, savers and the financial services industry.

In 2011-12 the Treasury gave NS&I a Net Financing Target of £2 billion which meant NS&I could offer the Index-Linked Savings Certificates for sale. They sold out in less than four months, the length of time it took the Net Financing Target to be reached.

However, this year the Treasury has told NS&I that the Net Financing Target for 2012-13 is £0. Therefore, NS&I is not looking to attract too many new deposits, which means it is unlikely to offer the product this year.

This provides one less option for hard-pressed savers to find a way to beat inflation, which rose to 3.5 per cent this week, following six successive falls in the consumer prices index since it was at its peak of 5.2 per cent in September 2011.

If you are an existing investor in the Index-linked Savings Certificates you can reinvest on maturity of your existing certificate.

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