Savers fearful of inflation

23/05/11
Savings

Spending their savings is becoming less popular amongst those fearful of the effects of surging inflation.

Inflation worries are preventing people from utilising their savings as they would have done in the past.

Concerns about rising inflation mean that many British consumers are less likely to dip into their savings, according to a new survey.

The study from BM Savings showed that the average amount saved between February and April fell to £745 – a drop of £14 from the amount set aside by savers over the previous three months.

However, an average £123 less was raided from savings in the past three months, which compensates for the slight drop in savings made.

People between the ages of 35 and 44 managed to squirrel away £1,100 in the same period – the highest amount in any of the other age groups. Those aged between 45 to 54 saved the least at just £469 each, the survey of 2000 adults revealed.

Head of products for BM Savings John Bianco said: “As we head into summer, savers have reduced the amount they have raided from their savings account. Consistently putting money away is a great way to ensure savings are there for upcoming summer holidays”.

The rise in consumer interest in optimising their savings has been evident in the huge volume of calls made to government-backed savings provider National Savings & Investments (NS&I) – the organisation recently launched index-linked savings certificates that pay the annual rate of change in the Retail Prices Index plus a fixed rate of interest that rises annually.

NS&I has added 200 more staff to its call centre to cope with the demand.