ECB: Rich Eurozone Households Hold Bulk of Pandemic Savings, Dampening Hopes for Spending Boost

The ECB found the richest 20% of euro zone households held nearly half of excess savings from 2020-2022.

Richer households are less likely to spend additional savings, meaning little spending boom is expected.

Some savings went into financial assets and property, making them harder to access.

ECB blog authors said this means those hoping for a surge in pandemic savings spending will be disappointed.

This is relevant for assessing inflation and appropriate monetary policy response, the ECB blog said.