Poles feather their nests

In the first six months of this year the value of Poles' savings has increased to zł.314.2 billion, according to calculations made by daily Rzeczpospolita. That amount already beats all of last year's savings, which came to zł.305.1 billion.

Taking the current level of savings into account, the average Pole has around zł.8,000 saved up for a rainy day. However, it is estimated that in reality 70 percent of Poles have no savings.

Although the amount of money saved by Poles is growing at the rate of a few percent annually, spending is also on the rise. Experts say the reason for the growth is mainly the boom on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and an increase in bond prices.

The good situation on the financial markets and this year's steep drop in interest rates helped investment funds have a very positive H1 in 2005. Savings located in those funds increased by 14 percent year-on-year for the period.

Although investment funds' share in the savings market has been estimated at around 13 percent, banks remain Poles' most trusted savings institutions, holding 64 percent of Polish savings. However, that number has decreased sharply since 2000, when over 80 percent of Poles' savings were kept in banks. According to experts, the amount of Polish savings kept in banks could drop to around 50 percent in the future.