Brits 'seeing importance of saving'

By Sarah Engle, Mon 8 Feb 2010 - Published in Banking

New figures have shown that inflation is not deterring Brits from saving.

Research by Nationwide has revealed the proportion of people who save either regularly or occasionally increased to 79 per cent in January, which is the highest level since September 2008.

Commenting on the rise, Andy Hutchinson, head of savings at Nationwide, said: "This could have been because of the recent increase in VAT meaning people spent less money and therefore had more money to save."

The expert also claimed that people could have pledged to save more as part of their new year's resolution and said it will be interesting to see if the trend continues in the coming months.

However, the organisation pointed out that this means 21 per cent of people are not putting any money aside at all.

The research also found that the Nationwide's importance of savings index climbed by 12 points in January, increasing from 86 in December to 98, meaning more people recognise the need to out cash aside.

Last week, Andrew Hagger, a spokesperson for Moneynet, said people should not be put off saving in an Isa by the current low interest rates and explained that the products have tax advantages in the long run.

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