Population’s savings in the banking system kept going down in September, too, for the second month in a row, both in real terms, if inflation is taken into account (4.6%), and in nominal terms (1.8%), as the population would rather exchange its surplus of money for foreign currency or invest it in T-bills, which provide better gains.
Although this phenomenon can be explained, the decrease in savings is not a good sign, because it shows that the quality of life is becoming poorer and poorer, and that the population’s confidence in banks is decreasing.
NBR explains this drop by the increase in expenses due to the upcoming winter on one hand, and on the attempt to maintain higher yields provided by deposits in foreign currency and by the treasury bills issued by the Finance Ministry, on the other hand.
“It’s too soon to say that the savings of the population went down following the events that occurred in the banking system over the past few months. When people take their money out of the bank, they most certainly deposit it in another bank that they deem as safer or more efficient.
I for one think this index has followed a downward trend, given the increase in consumption expenses, living standards becoming poorer and poorer”, Enache Jiru, Romanian Savings Bank (CEC) vice-president told Ziarul Financiar.
He added that another cause could be the seasonal works, as well as school having started. “It’s autumn agricultural works: ploughing, seeding and school beginning, too. Under these circumstances, people save less money”, Jiru says.
Given the yield offered by placements in dollars, which was higher than the one of the placements in lei at the end of September, the population’s deposits in foreign currency, converted in dollars, were registering a 3.6% increase, while the volume of T-bills in foreign currency held by the population went up 25.4%, to 113.2 million dollars.