Enlarge image
Savings Bank President Helmut Schleweis expects the situation for savers to worsen significantly in autumn and winter
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
According to the savings banks, the majority of Germans are increasingly reaching their financial limits due to high inflation.
"We expect that because of the significant price increase, up to 60 percent of German households will have to use their entire disposable income - or more - monthly for pure living expenses," Sparkasse President Helmut Schleweis told the "Welt am Sonntag".
A year ago, according to the Sparkasse wealth barometer, only 15 percent were unable to put money away.
The Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken are therefore observing a similar development.
“High inflation robs consumers of purchasing power, which reduces their ability to save,” said Andreas Martin, head of the Association of German Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken (BVR).
Many are still benefiting from savings that would have accumulated during the Corona period due to a lack of consumption options.
“The savings rate peaked at around 16 percent in 2020, and we expect a return to the pre-crisis level of eleven percent in 2022.”
In the savings banks, the situation is expected to worsen significantly, especially in autumn and winter, especially for people with small and medium-sized incomes.
The tense situation is already evident when the current account is overdrawn.
Anyone who uses the so-called overdraft facility to bridge short-term bottlenecks is now “much more exhaustive” on average.
The Greens are calling for the amount of overdraft interest to be limited, which currently averages almost ten percent.
"Basically, we Greens consider it necessary to legally cap overdraft interest," said Green finance politician Stefan Schmidt of "Welt am Sonntag".
The interest cap is intended to protect people from escalating costs.
sak/dpa
