Finance Minister doesn't want to ban negative interest on savings

Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance does not want to outright ban a negative interest rate on savings. Such a "hard ban" would be a "very significant intervention in the market" which can have negative effects, he said in response to parliamentary questions from the CDA and PvdA, NU.nl reports.

The two parties asked Hoekstra to look into a ban on negative savings interest after Belgium recently introduced such a ban. But according to Hoekstra, a ban could make monetary police less effective, and in the worst case scenario, could harm financial stability.

The Finance Minister said that he will continue to talk with banks about the consequences of a negative interest rate and "address the dilemma of whether or not to intervene through a ban." He stressed that the step to a negative interest rate on savings is also a big one for banks. "A negative interest rate on savings deposits from consumers is not yet on the agenda", he said.