Barclays boss calls for savings account tax incentive

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Barclays boss calls for savings account tax incentive

Thu 15th Jan 2009

The boss of Barclays has called for the government to offer tax incentives to persuade people to save.

In an interview with Channel Four's Jon Snow, John Valery, the head of the UK's third largest bank, said that the Bank of England's base rate cuts mean that there is little incentive for people in the UK to put money into savings accounts.

He said: "The biggest issue about zero or close to zero interest rates is the implication for savers.

"It is important for us to not lose sight of the fact although an awful lot of energy has been directed at looking after those who borrow and those who want to borrow, savers outnumber borrowers in this country by a significant margin."

Mr Valery said the government needed to create "a tax stimulus" for savings in order to encourage Brits to put their money into banks' savings accounts.

A recent poll conducted by Nationwide showed that 47 per cent of Brits believe that now is a bad time to save.

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