Poll: 41% of Estonian Households Still Have No Savings
A poll conducted by TNS Emor reveals that although 72 percent of Estonian households say they could put aside some money on a monthly basis, 41 percent currently have no savings at all.
Whereas the percentage of families who said they earned enough money to allow regular saving stood at 77 before the financial crises hit, it dropped to 65 in 2012. Since then, the general saving capacity of low-income families has improved a little, reports the Bank of Estonia.
For this reason, the number of households with savings, has increased as well. The percentage has risen by 6 percentage points, reaching 59 percent in September 2014. This is, however, still under the pre-crisis level and the 41 percent of households without savings is worrying to say the least.
A stable 245,000, or 41 percent of all Estonian households, have a loan commitment. Most loans are still taken out for housing or refurbishment, but the number of consumer loans and leases is steadily increasing again. This is believed to be caused by an increased ability to take out loans, the improved sense of financial security and possibly also a greater choice of products that can now be paid for by installments.
Out of all Estonian households, 8 percent have applied for housing loan within a year. A full loan was granted to 58 percent of the applicants; 31 percent of the applications were rejected outright, and 8 percent given a smaller amount than they initially applied for. Consumer loans were asked for by 8 percent of households, and 78 percent were granted. Compared to two years ago, the percentage of granted loans has increased for both categories.
About 13 percent of all households, which have a loan commitment, have experienced problems with repayments. Two-thirds of them say that their problems are temporary. The number of families with financial difficulties has dropped a little since 2012.