Investec, the South African bank, has reported a surge of 200% in the number of Irish customers switching their savings to foreign currencies in the past year as they lost confidence in the embattled euro.
Most have moved to sterling, which approached a 3½-year high against the euro last week. Irish savers have also been switching to American and Australian dollars, and to the Swiss franc amid concerns the value of Irish bank accounts could be destroyed if the euro were to unravel or if Ireland were to be forced out of the currency union.
“We have seen a significant increase in demand from our retail client base for foreign currency deposit accounts over the past 12 months, with a 200% increase in clients holding a currency account alongside their euro deposits,” Investec said.
The bank, which bought NCB Stockbrokers in January, offers savers protection against currency risk if they move their money to Danish kroner. It gives them the option of a risk-free return to the single currency after two years and six months at the same exchange rate at which they left the euro.
The Central Bank of Ireland reported last week that private-sector deposits at Irish-based banks rose for the third month in a row in April. For the year as a whole, deposits fell by 3.4%, the slowest pace of decline since August 2010.