Inflation, in 2022 minus 20 billion in Italian current accounts
Inflation and the cost of living are inverting the saving trend of Italians: after four years of constant increases, in 2022 the total balance of household current accounts in our country decreased by almost 20 billion euros. This is what emerges from a research by the Autonomous Italian Banking Federation (Fabi). From August to November there was, in fact, a drop of 18 billion from 1,177 billion to 1,159 billion, with a reduction of 1.5%. Already in June, compared to May, there was an initial decrease of 10 billion. The conspicuous trend reversal in the accumulation capacity of account holders comes after a long period of increase in bank deposit balances: at the end of 2017 the total amount was 967 billion, at the end of 2018 it was 990 billion (+23 billion), at the end of 2019 at 1,044 billion (+54 billion), at the end of 2020 at 1,110 billion (+66 billion) and at the end of 2021 at 1,144 billion (+34 billion).
The data show almost five years of savings (since December 2017), but with a worrying change of course at the end of 2022: Italians’ accounts have always grown and have exceeded 1,000 billion, with a tendency towards accumulation that has exceeded 212 billion euros (sum of savings accumulated from 2017 to May 2022). The annual change was always positive and with a total budget of 1,044 billion at the end of 2019, 1,110 billion at the end of 2020, 1,144 billion at the end of 2021 and 1,179 billion at May 2022.
If in the first seven months of 2022 the liquidity accumulated by households almost touched 1,180 billion euros, with growth – albeit slower than in the past – of 0.9% since the beginning of the year, the data for the following four months confirm the fears , by now ascertained, of a collapse in purchasing power which forces Italians to draw on their reserves to meet the higher costs. From July to November, total current accounts fell by almost 20 billion euros. The total value was 1,178 billion euros in July and 1,159 billion euros at the end of November, with a reduction of almost two percentage points (-1.53%) and which demonstrates that the cost of the crisis is starting to be all in one’s pockets Italians.
Confirmation of a difficult situation also comes from the trend of Italian household debts, which marks an increase in loans for consumption and the stability of loans for personal purposes. Overall, in November the amount of loans for both categories stood at 256 billion euros, up compared to January of the same year (+1.5%) and overcoming the trend of constant increase since 2017, equal to ‘1.2%. The growth numbers of the world of finalized and non-finalized loans come as a slap in the face compared to the market conditions, because it is certainly not the low interest rates that are driving requests, but rather the growing propensity to pay purchases in installments, which makes the relationship that Italians have with economy and savings contradictory. The sense of uncertainty and fear of those who do not give up liquidity or even expenses have made not only liquid deposits fly, but also loans.
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