2024-01-21 20:53:00
It was just a few months ago. Interest rates took a decidedly upward curve. There was then a lot of kowtowing to the banks, on the political side, so that they deigned to raise their interest rates a little. This is because the difference was too visible, even though on the mortgage and loan rates front, it was a cause for grimace.
What regarding today ? Small gestures have been formalized but they are facade: the majority of traditional savings accounts still display remuneration far from the market interest rates, which very correctly remunerate the capital of financial institutions with the European Central Bank ( ECB). This week, the Livret A in France saw its rate maintained at 3% until 2025. And in Belgium, even if these regulated deposits are not completely comparable with ours? They are hovering around 1%, while the 1 and 10 year rates on the Belgian market are around 3.4 and 3% respectively. No wonder, in these conditions, that Pierre Wunsch, governor of the National Bank of Belgium (BNB), reiterated to the VRT this weekend that there was still room to raise interest rates.
The “coup” of the Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), with his one-year state bond, barely moved the lines.
We can only agree, even if the rise in interest rates has undoubtedly caused some cold sweats in some small banks less diversified than the Belgian banking giants like KBC, ING, Belfius and BNP Paribas Fortis, which capture around 80%. of Belgian savings. They were clearly not shaken enough by the “coup” of the Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), with his one-year state bond. This barely moved the lines. Should we not re-consider the legal avenue to stimulate competition between the big banks? The Minister of the Economy, Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS), spoke of them as a quartet forming a dominant oligopoly. This assertion is difficult to verify. What is certain is that a new (big) burst of political pressure seems necessary to force banking institutions to bend, so that the savings of Belgians stop eroding slowly but surely, to the benefit of banks. still as little concerned regarding their customers.
1705886809
#Savings #rate #time #bowing
