Singapore’s interest rates to stay low

Savings accounts have seen interest rates of below 1 per cent per annum since 2001 - and people hoping for better yields ahead will be disappointed, reported the Strait Times.

The rates are unlikely to rise - at least in the next six months, experts say.

Monthly average savings rates have been on a downward trend from January to last month. This means the annual average rate for this year is likely to dip below last year's already paltry 0.22 percent.

Rubbing salt into savers' wounds - inflation is likely to rise next year. Based on figures from 10 banks and financial institutions compiled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), savings accounts earned an average of 0.22 percent a year in January, before holding at just 0.16 percent from July to last month.

This is a far cry from the 1.28 percent savers used to get in 2000, which was the last time interest rates exceeded 1 percent.

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