SIR – Many readers of the Worcester News may have been a bit worried about the ethics of the Cyprus government raiding people’s bank savings on the orders of the EU in order to get a bailout.
It could be thought of as stealing.
It is sometimes referred to as giving the deposits a ‘haircut’.
Do readers realise that our government has already done this – but in a very cunning and subtle way.
By cutting the Bank of England base rate to near zero, our banks can borrow money more cheaply from the Bank of England than paying us interest on our savings.
They don’t need our money, so most savings are getting a very poor rate of return.
Gone are the days that savers could earn five to 10 per cent interest on their savings.
Thus we could say that our savings have already had a ‘haircut’ too.
TERRY JAMES
Pershore
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