And that money will remain in the accounts for a while, according to research by ING Research. The bank economists expect that no more than a quarter of the additional accumulated capital would be spent in the short term. Converted, that equates to about 5.5 billion.
Richer households
According to the bank, the fact that so much money remains hoarded is because the largest part of the extra billions saved is ‘in the hands of richer households’. Of all the extra savings, 71 percent ended up in the accounts of the richest half of all households.
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The fact that less wealthy households have hardly been able to save extra is because they desperately needed the money to pay outstanding bills, according to several studies that the ING economists consulted.
Families with a higher income or greater wealth have better planned all expenses and are therefore less likely to suddenly have to reach for the piggy bank.
Don’t spend soon
The extra money saved is not pumped into the economy overnight. “For example, someone who has not been to a restaurant for a year does not suddenly go out to eat every day after such a lockdown period,” the economists said. The group that saved the most would normally have spent this money mainly on recreation, holidays, culture and in the catering industry.
This kind of expenditure on so-called experience services is more difficult to make up for. Consumers do not suddenly eat out twice as often, to give an example. A book or refrigerator that you cannot buy for whatever reason, you buy at a later time.
In addition, the Dutch are generally less inclined to spend larger windfalls quickly, according to the bank.
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