NL residents saved €12 billion last year, despite low interest rate

Households in the Netherlands have a total of 368 billion euros in savings built up, 12 billion euro more than a year ago, the Dutch central bank DNB announced on Wednesday, De Telegraaf reports.

Netherlands residents continue to save, even with the extremely low interest rate on savings. Both ING and ABN Amro have lowered savings interest to 0.0 on large savings accounts.

According to the DNB, it is precisely because of the low interest rate that people are saving more and more. "For the same desired final amount, a lower interest rate payment means that more savings are needed," the bank said, according to the newspaper.