Postal Savings Rise By 1.54 Trln Yen In Dec
Wednesday, January 5, 2000
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Postal savings recorded in December a net increase of 1.54 trillion yen, the figure measuring new deposits minus withdrawals, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications reported Tuesday.
Teigaku deposits, or deposits with biannual compound rates, rose 573.7 billion yen, marking the first rise in 11 months, while time deposits saw the first growth in 12 months at 100 billion yen. In December, the ministry launched a campaign to attract savers toward these deposits for the first time in five years, which contributed to the robust results, the report says.
December was a pension payment month, and ordinary savings show a net growth of 885 billion yen.
For the April-December period, however, the net increase was only 446 billion yen, 89.9% less than a year earlier. This was attributed to low interest rates and sluggish personal income.
In the fiscal 1999 budget, postal savings were originally projected to increase in net by 2.9 trillion yen, a goal that will be difficult to attain.
The postal savings system also expects difficulties next fiscal year, when savers will have to decide whether to roll over a large volume of maturing teigaku deposits made at higher interest rates.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition)
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