Ireland intends to roll out a dedicated personal savings and investment account beginning next year as part of a policy to encourage savers to move cash sitting in low-yield deposit accounts into investments, Finance Minister Simon Harris said.
The scheme targets some of the roughly 170 billion euros - cited as earning little or no interest on deposit with banks - that Harris says is underutilised by Irish households. The finance minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister and leads one of the country's two main coalition parties, has made the initiative a priority since assuming the finance brief four months ago. He provided additional details about the proposal at a stakeholder event on Tuesday.
Under the plan, the account will be subject to an annual flat-rate tax calculated on the value of assets held in the account that exceed a tax-free threshold. Harris indicated that this flat rate could potentially act as the only form of taxation on investments made through the new account.
"Ireland still does not have a sufficiently diversified savings and investment culture. Too much of people’s hard-earned savings remains in low-yield deposits, where inflation can erode value over time," Harris said while soliciting feedback from industry and consumer representatives on the design of the proposals.
Harris framed the measure as aligned with a European Commission recommendation to develop consumer-friendly savings accounts. He noted that a sizable portion of private savings in the bloc remains parked in current accounts.
Central bank research cited in remarks at the event highlights the scale and composition of savings in Ireland and the European Union. About a third of the 33 trillion euros in private savings across the EU is held in current accounts, the research found. Irish households, who save roughly 1 euro for every 8 euros of disposable income, hold just 2.3% of their financial assets in direct investments such as listed equity and debt securities, compared with an EU average of 7.5%.
Irish Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf welcomed the effort to reduce obstacles to retail investment but emphasized that product availability must be matched by improvements in financial literacy and a robust consumer protection framework. "He said he was heartened by the efforts to reduce barriers to retail investment and that the availability of suitable products had to be accompanied by steps to improve financial literacy and a strong consumer protection framework," according to the statement released after the event.
The government will now collect input from industry and consumer groups as it finalizes the account's parameters, including the tax-free threshold level and the flat-rate tax percentage, ahead of the launch next year. The details will determine how attractive the account is for households sitting on sizable bank deposits.
($1 = 0.8679 euros)