Low rates stifle appetite for savings

The time deposits made by the population in June, both in foreign and domestic currency, registered minimal advances, thus taking further a trend that emerged several months ago, after banks slashed interests they pay. The volume of RON-denominated time deposits made by individuals at the end of June amounted to a little above 14 billion RON (3.9 billion euros), an increase of less than 0.05% as compared to late May. At the same time, the volume of foreign currency-denominated deposits made by the population in June surged by 1.3%, to almost 7.3 billion RON (two billion euros). The growth was not much higher in foreign currency, either, considering the RON/EUR exchange rate was flat in June, with a very slight decline. On the other hand, as compared to the beginning of the year, RON deposits made by the population in June went up by over 13%, against an increase of below one percentage point of foreign currency-denominated ones. ZF