Britons save £7bn in July amid covid money worries
Britons saved £7bn in July as concerns over Covid-19 and the pingdemic prompted people to hide away their cash.
The jump in savings caused total funds deposited in bank accounts since the since the start of the pandemic to rise to almost £230bn, according to the Bank of England.
A spokesperson for Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s leading private investment firm, said: “For some people, the threats posed by the pandemic remain very real.
“It’s thought that around a million people could still be furloughed, and with the scheme coming to an end in a month, there’s bound to be uncertainty for the future. Meanwhile, nobody can predict what could happen with new variants of the disease,” the spokesperson added.
While the figure of £7.1bn represents a significant drop from the £10.2bn that UK savers deposited in June it was well above pre-pandemic average household savings which stood at £4.7bn per month.
Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said the figures “do little to ease mounting concerns that the resurgence in virus cases in July and so – called ‘pingdemic’ brought the consumer recovery to a halt.”
In comments to the Daily Mail, Gregory continued:”this provides a further sign that rising virus cases sapped households’ willingness to spend in July.”
The news comes as a Yorkshire Building Society report found that the UK is facing a £371bn savings shortfall when it comes to feeling prepared for a financial shock.
The data showed that while adults in the UK require a nest egg of £17,465 to feel financially secure the average Briton falls £7,220 short of this goal.
Read more: UK facing £371bn savings shortfall despite financial resilience improving