Household savings hit five-year high in 2020

Personal savings of Singapore households hit a five-year high during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, as Singaporeans built up emergency funds to tide themselves over the crisis. While the saved amount declined last year, the habit of saving should continue beyond the end of the pandemic, especially with rising inflation, experts said. 

Assoc Prof Qu Feng of NTU said: “The jump in savings in 2020 could be considered a rational response to the risks of the pandemic. For example, in view of the sharp downturn and huge risks in the Singapore stock market that year, households could have changed their investment in stock shares or other risky financial assets into safe assets like cash.”

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