‘A third of consumers now saving regularly’

Consumers of all ages have increased their savings despite the fact that they believe that the Government’s policy is actively discouraging them from building a nest egg.

The Nationwide UK (Ireland)/ESRI Savings Index which records consumers attitudes towards saving increased slightly to 102 in May.

The index found that one-third of consumers are now saving regularly, up from 28% in May last year. Encouragingly, the number of people not saving has also declined by 3% to 41%.

“During 2014 so far, the Savings Index overall has been at its most stable since 2010. This reflects the relative stability in the economy but there are diverging influences underlying the overall trend,” said Brendan Synnott, managing director of Nationwide UK (Ireland).

There was also a rise in the belief amongst savers that both government policy and economic conditions were not conducive to saving — with only 5% of over 50s believing that government policy encourages saving.

“There is a recurring negative theme around government policy towards saving; and the reduction in the ECB base rate announced last week will be a further blow for savers when the reduction is reflected in retail deposit rates,” said Mr Synnott.

When asked what they would do with their excess cash, 47% said that they would pay off their mortgage debt, down from 52% last year, while 36% said that they would save it.