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War On Savers Escalatesby Peter A. Grant
Mar 18, AM 
Gold is higher today, spurred by concerns over the proposed €10 bln bailout of Cyprus, which has heightened risk aversion. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades apparently agreed to a "tax" on savings in order to secure the bailout.The deal reportedly calls for a one-time "tax" of 6.75% on all bank deposits under €100,00 euros ($131,000) and a 9.9% "tax" on deposits greater than €100,000. President Anastasiades warned that failure to accept these measure could lead to a collapse of the financial system and possible exit from the EMU. The euro fell to new three-month lows. Banks in Cyprus will now be closed until Thursday. Ah, the "bank holiday"... Sounds positively benign, even pleasant. And yet such measures have been used time and time again throughout history as a means to prevent depositors from getting their money out of harms way before the proverbial hammer drops. We have consistently categorized über-accommodative central bank policies as a war on savers: Protracted period of generally negative real interest rates certainly discourages saving. However, the bailout of Cyprus reveals that heavily indebted governments may consider the actual savings of its citizenry to be in play. That realization, not surprisingly, has increased the appeal of alternative means of savings outside of the banking system, most notably gold. According to a Bloomberg article: "In a bid to ease a run on banks, depositors who keep their account for two years will receive securities linked to future revenue from the country’s gas reserves, the president said." So, as if confiscation of ones savings wasn't bad enough, apparently Cypriot savers should find solace in becoming natural gas speculators. Savings are supposed to be the liquid and safe piece of one's portfolio. If the reality of negative real yields hasn't prompted you to move a portion of your savings into gold, perhaps this proposed confiscation will provide the additional incentive. NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP Opinions expressed in commentary on the USAGOLD.com website do not constitute an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any precious metals product, nor should they be viewed in any way as investment advice or advice to buy, sell or hold. USAGOLD, Inc. recommends the purchase of physical precious metals for asset preservation purposes, not speculation. Utilization of these opinions for speculative purposes is neither suggested nor advised. Commentary is strictly for educational purposes, and as such USAGOLD does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information found here. |
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