Low interest rates on classical savings products have not prevented people in CEE from putting money aside for rainy days. More than two thirds say that saving money is important, according to Erste Group Savings Barometer 2014 launched today.

Austrians and Slovaks are savings champions for the second year in a row. Austrians increased their average monthly savings by EUR 7 (to EUR 188), while Slovaks saved EUR 6 more (EUR 96) than last year. Croats (EUR 60), Romanians (EUR 41) and Hungarians (EUR 49) kept their savings stable while Czechs (EUR 75; -EUR 6) and Serbs (EUR 35; -EUR 1) saved less than in 2013. "Given the long period of negative consumer sentiment in the Czech Republic over the past few years, the decreased savings amount is a good sign that consumption has finally picked up", says Peter Bosek, Head of retail board at Erste Group. Even though the Czechs save less, 43% of them are satisfied with their saving amount, making them the second most satisfied savers after the Austrians.

Although most people in CEE managed to keep their savings on a stable level, almost every second Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak and Croat is not satisfied with the saved amount. The dissatisfaction is highest among Serbs - almost two thirds say they are less or not at all satisfied with the amount they are saving. "Given the low interest rates on savings in comparison to previous years and the inflation, it is no surprise that Serbs are not happy with their savings, since inflation is significantly biting into the amount they manage to put aside", states Bosek.

Savings book remains top savings alternative

For the vast majority of respondents the most important aspect in terms of saving is that they should always be able to easily access their money. Low risk is considered the second most important requirement, followed by high interest rates or yields. "The savings book should actually serve as a short term liquidity reserve.

However, because of the currently low interest rates, a savings book can hardly create wealth or a decent retirement provision. In order to benefit from higher yields, people would have to take higher risks than they used to in the past," adds Bosek. Still, most people in CEE remain committed to their savings books or savings accounts: Almost eight out of ten Austrians, more than every second Slovak and almost every second Croat are using this form of saving. Czechs are using government-endorsed pension insurances (55%), Hungarians (34%) and Serbs (9%) prefer life insurances while Romanians invest their savings into gold or other precious metals (26%). Most people expect that the low interest rates on savings and investment products will remain unchanged over the next five years. One third of Croats and Romanians think the interest rate will decrease even further.

Almost one third of Romanians and Croats have a positive attitude towards securities, shares, funds or bonds

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