Donate blood, buy bonds at a discount
Countries are getting particularly creative as they seek capital.
Ionut Nedelea, a 46-year-old project manager, waits patiently for hours in line at a run-down facility in downtown Bucharest to donate blood. Later, he logs into his brokerage account and uploads his blood donation certificate to receive his financial reward: the opportunity to purchase Romanian government bonds offering enhanced interest rates of over 7%.
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This represents a difference of a full percentage point above the current interest rate available to most individual investors.
“You might spend half a day on the donation itself,” Nedelea tells Bloomberg, “but it’s definitely worth it.”
For Romania, the blood-for-government-bonds program combines business with pleasure. It’s a way to alleviate the chronic blood shortage while also securing valuable funds to finance the significant budget deficit. Since early 2025, approximately 2.8 billion lei ($604 million) have been raised from tens of thousands of private investors. And in this case, too, it is accurate to say that Romanians are giving their all for the economy.
“Trading is in my blood”
In Romania, which recorded the largest budget deficit in the European Union last year, the head of the Treasury, Stefan Nanu, argues that the social benefits justify the extra cost of “blood bonds.”
The program, which began in 2023 as a campaign in collaboration with a popular rock radio station, has no marketing costs and is broadcast for free on television, he added.
“Our goal is not to make certain people rich, but to support blood donation,” Nanos said in an interview.
However, one cannot help but notice that this unusual initiative is taking place in the homeland of Count Dracula, which inspired author Bram Stoker to create the vampire hero who feeds on human blood.
Laviniu Beze, head of the Romanian Retailers’ Association, is one of those responding to the government’s call. He buys bonds four times a year, which now make up 40% of his portfolio.
“Trading runs in my blood,” he said. “As an investor, even if you can earn just one percentage point more, of course you have to take advantage of it.”
Governments are looking for ways to engage citizens
The country is part of a global effort by policymakers to persuade ordinary citizens to help finance public spending. From Italy and Japan to Brazil, authorities are testing innovative ways to attract plumbers, engineers, and teachers to the bond market.
Given the sharp rise in government debt across much of the world in recent years, this need has become even more urgent. In Romania today, the program for private investors—including the “blood-for-bonds” initiative—covers nearly one-fifth of the government’s total borrowing needs.
“Every little bit counts,” Moritz Kraemer, chief economist at the German bank Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and former head of credit ratings at S&P Global, explains to Bloomberg. “Governments are trying to raise every available capital they can.”
Part of the program’s appeal stems from the behavior of private investors. For the most part, they tend to buy and hold the securities, unlike high-risk mutual funds and foreign institutions, which may rush to liquidate their positions during periods of turmoil. At the same time, higher interest rates have made bonds more attractive to ordinary savers.
In 2024, households held 11% of government debt in the countries monitored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), more than double the percentage in 2021. Six countries issued new bonds targeting retail investors during the year through October 2025, while six others planned to do the same.
Featured photo: The castle of Vlad Tepes, the “Count Dracula.”
Source: in.gr
