German Banks Call Low Rates Devastating As Some Start Charging
- Association warns lenders likely to pass on costs more broadly
- Some already apply deposit levies above a certain threshold
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In the run-up to the European Central Bank’s policy decision on Thursday, its low or negative interest rates are drawing criticism from a group of 51 German regional lenders.
“We already have a devastating interest rate situation today, the end of which is unforeseeable,” Peter Schneider, who represents public-sector savings banks in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, said on Wednesday. “If the ECB aggravates this course, that would hit not only the entire financial sector hard, but especially savers.”