Household Savings in Central Eastern and Southeastern Europe : How Do Poorer Households Save?
Based on a survey of households in 10 Central Eastern European and Western Balkan countries, this paper presents new and unique evidence on which households have savings and how they save. The paper shows that the percentage of savers is low, and s...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/919071550592981050/Household-Savings-in-Central-Eastern-and-Southeastern-Europe-How-Do-Poorer-Households-Save http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31314 |
| Summary: | Based on a survey of households in 10
Central Eastern European and Western Balkan countries, this
paper presents new and unique evidence on which households
have savings and how they save. The paper shows that the
percentage of savers is low, and savings are frequently
informal. Formal savings are dominated by bank savings, and
participation in contractual and capital market savings is
very low in comparison to high-income countries. Poor
households are significantly less likely to have any
savings; income also has an effect, albeit smaller, on the
choice of formal versus informal savings. With a high
density of bank branches in Central Eastern European and
Western Balkan countries lack of physical access to banks
does not explain the lack of formal savings. Lack of trust
in banks reduces the probability of formal savings,
especially bank savings. |
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