Savers more reliable than ESRI report states

LAST Monday the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) gave the impression that SSIA holders were going to splurge €5 billion of their hard-saved money within the next 12 months.

It is unlikely those who saved so hard for five years are going to splash their money that quickly and it seems too pessimistic a view. We have pushed the savings ratio up from 9% to 13% in this economy over the past five years, suggesting we still retain a pretty good grip on basic economics and on the art of saving.

However the ESRI reasoned that when the party was over this would leave a gaping hole in the economy and that growth from 2008 on would slump. Davy Stockbrokers has made a similar argument.