Raising the interest rate on savings took a long time, because the market interest rate has been rising for some time. But banks don’t want to flip-flop savers and prefer to wait for a truly stable interest rate before making any changes, says BNR in-house economist Han de Jong. But the banks also have an interest. Keeping interest rates low for a long time is good for banks. They make money with low interest rates.’
(Not) rich sleeper
Savers need not think that they will now get rich sleeping on this higher interest rate. But things are going in the right direction, thinks De Jong. “With a savings interest rate of 0.25% and an inflation rate of 10%, we’re not there yet, but it’s a start.”
It’s easy to explain why interest rates are rising. ‘The ECB has been raising interest rates for some time, and this has consequences not only for money market interest rates, but also for savings interest rates. In addition, capital market interest rates are also rising, but are now showing a slight decline. So interest rates on savings won’t rise so fast to compensate for inflation,’ explains De Jong.
Incidentally, De Jong thinks that from the point of view of the banks, savers are still disappointed. «For many savers, zero interest was applied, but the banks had to pay negative interest to the ECB. Savers didn’t think so, but in reality they are still disappointed.’