The $339 million bond issued by the National Insurance Property Development Company (Nipdec) on Wednesday was oversubscribed by more than six times. A notice on the Central Bank's Web site yesterday indicated that the bond, which is fixed at 5.15 per cent for 13 years, attracted bids of over $2.1 billion. Asked yesterday about the oversubscription, Alister Noel, the senior manager of operations at the Central Bank, said: "There is still a great deal of excess liquidity in the system and there has been a dearth of recent long-term, fixed-income investment opportunities." Questioned on whether the extent of the oversubscription may have been an indication that the pricing of the bond was too attractive, Noel said the Central Bank felt that the 5.15 per cent rate was fair and it would have been based on its reading of the liquidity conditions at the time the issue was priced. Between the pricing date and the close of the issue, there may have been as much as one month during which the liquidity conditions may have changed, said Noel. The notice indicated that the amount alloted to non-competitive applications (those applying for $100,000 or less) totalled $14.2 million. In order to encourage the participation of small investors, the Central Bank ensures that the non-competitive bidders receive all the bonds they apply for.