Shanghai's deposit in Chinese financial institutions plummet

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-12 10:18

China's bullish stock markets gored the amount of savings Shanghai people are keeping in the country's financial institutions as they pulled 25.89 billion yuan (US$3.39 billion) out of the banks in May, according to a report released by the central bank's Shanghai headquarters.

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The drop is the biggest single-month decline in personal savings since 1999 and is 17.39 billion more than in April.

The report says the hot stock market continues to divert away the savings of residents.

Even though the central bank has raised interest rates by 0.54 percentage points this year, term deposits declined 41 billion yuan in May, according to the report.

A one-year term deposit now pays 3.06 percent, while a regular current account pays only 0.72 percent.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index had increased by more than 50 percent in the first five months.


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