While the average rate of remuneration is less than 1 % in banks, the Belgian saver is treated as a quiet pigeon. And this, even though these same banks deposit their liquidity at 2.25 % from the ECB. The mattress of the small saver has become a captive pension, exploited in excess. Banks no longer run after savings: they capture it by habit, inertia, by resignation.
Why does Belgium remain so little interesting for savers? (Comparative)
We would have thought, in 2023, that the state voucher launched by former finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) – 22 billion captured quickly – would cause a burst of competition. Las. The sector, pretending to be panic, denounced an imbalance in the market … while the operation neither had the system wobble, or ruined the banks. On the other hand, when it comes to siphoning the benefits of Belfius-Public Bank remember-up to 80 % to bail out a famelic state with an exceptional dividend, no one talks about stability or systemic risk.
-The height of hypocrisy is there: we brandish European rules when it comes to defending ridiculous rates, but only when it suits. We sacrifice the general interest on the altar of the sacrosanct “profitability”. However, the 300 billion euros that sleep on Belgian savings accounts could be used otherwise: to finance ecological transition, infrastructure, or national defense.
What do we expect to impose a fairer floor rate-the legal minimum is 0.11 % currently! -, relaunching a popular loan, or stimulating risky capital as provided for in government agreement? The texts exist, they are languishing in Parliament, petris of good stillborn intentions. And during this time, the banks thrive, while the saver continues to feed the machine … without ever taste the feast.
Belgian households spared less at the end of 2024
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