The
findings may strengthen the ECB's view that inflation was now
set to continue a gentle decline towards 2% and bolster
arguments to keep interest rates on hold after an unprecedented
streak of hikes drove them to record highs.
The ECB found that the 20% of households with the highest income
held 49.3% of the excess savings made in 2020-22, followed by
the next quintile at 19.8%.
Since richer people are less likely to spend every additional
euro saved, this meant those savings were unlikely to be
deployed any time soon.
The blog's authors found some of those savings had been invested
in financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, or in property,
making them harder to access.
"Those hoping that the money put aside during the pandemic will
support a surge in consumption any time soon will likely be
disappointed," wrote authors Niccolò Battistini and Johannes
Gareis.
"This is a highly relevant insight for assessing what drives
inflation and how monetary policy needs to respond."
The ECB left interest rates unchanged last week and investors
expect it to start cutting them in the spring as inflation falls
and the economy stagnates, or even shrinks.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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