Czechs saving more as a result of coronavirus crisis
An increasing number of Czechs have started saving larger sums of money as a result of the coronavirus crisis in order to prepare for unexpected expenses in the future, suggests a survey conducted by Equa bank, published by Czech Radio.
According to the survey, 60 percent of people were not financially impacted by the crisis. Those who were affected said their incomes dropped by roughly 20 percent. At the same time, most people started putting aside larger sums of money than before the Covid-19 crisis.
“As a result of the coronavirus crisis, Czechs have started saving more and about 60 percent of people started to cut down their expenses.
“Because of the limited possibilities of travelling abroad, people have mainly cut down their holiday expenses. Some 40 percent of respondents tried to save money in this way,” Markéta Dvořáčková, spokeswoman of Equa Bank told Czech Radio’s flagship station Radiožurnál. She also said most people also try to save on clothing and eating out in restaurants.
The survey conducted by Equa Bank also shows that most people in the Czech Republic don’t have too many savings. One third has a financial reserve of up to CZK 10,000, while 44 percent have put aside over CZK 50,000. Nearly one tenth of respondents said they had saving of over half a million crowns.
According to the survey, two thirds of Czechs would use their savings in case of unexpected expenses. Some would solve the situation by borrowing money from relatives and only one in 20 would borrow money from a bank or rely on a state subsidy.
To this day, some eight percent of respondents have asked for some form of state help.
“The number of people who contact us over problems with income has been increasing, dealing with either insolvency instalments or instalments that couldn’t be postponed,” David Šmejkal, director of the debt advice centre Poradna při finančí tísni, told Czech Radio.
According to Mr Šmejkal, the number of people experiencing these problems has increased by up to one third compared to January this year.
