Most Germans live by the credo that saving is a virtue, but the ECB’s negative interest rates risk making a mockery of the national obsession, prompting politicians to seek ways to insulate thrifty citizens and keep the burden on the country’s beleaguered banks.

A proposed Swiss-German tax accord is dead and buried amid growing public opposition in Germany to any deal that is seen as too easy on evaders, senior members of chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition said.