Irish people saved more money than the EU average during the Covid pandemic, new data shows.
The analysis carried out by the Central Bank suggests that Irish people are holding onto those savings.
Household deposits stood at €162 billion in February, according to figures published by the Central Bank earlier this week.
Today's report states that population growth and increases in nominal wages may partially explain why households are still accumulating deposits at levels above those seen before the pandemic, despite having built up significant excess savings during it.
"These factors do not seem to fully explain why excess liquid savings drawdown in Ireland has been so muted relative to the rest of the euro area, and there is strong reason to believe that Irish households may still hold significant levels of these excess savings," the report states.
Reacting to today's data, Dominic Lumsden, spokesperson for Peopl Insurance, stressed the importance of setting aside some savings to tide you over when needed.
"Things can go wrong at a moment’s notice - as we all quickly learned during the Covid-19 crisis," he said.
However, Mr Lumsden pointed out that not all households were able to save during the pandemic.
"People employed in certain sectors, such as hospitality, saw their incomes fall significantly and many of these found themselves under huge financial strain as a result," he said.
"A lot of those who came under financial strain during the pandemic could still be financially cautious today as a result of their experience," he added.
