The saving rate in the euro area and the Czech Republic - potential for growth in consumption?

This article compares growth in household consumption, the saving rate and investment in the euro area and its largest economies with that in the Czech Republic. The comparison with euro area countries in a similar situation reveals that Czech households spent much less in response to the energy crisis amid a significantly higher saving rate relative to the long-term average. But Czech households did not channel their savings into housing, instead preferring to invest in liquid assets, probably for precautionary reasons. Their interest in financial products was boosted by rising interest rates. There are similar trends in a number of large euro area economies, where households' current high propensity to save can be expected to decline. However, the decline will be hindered by higher interest rates in the near future in the euro area, where the policy thightening cycle is peaking only now. By contrast, as interest rates in the Czech Republic probably reached their top already last year, Czech households' current high propensity to save is opening up room for a faster recovery in consumption growth than in the euro area.