ECB and euro offshore savings rates gap closing

The difference decreased from 0.32% on 31 July 2008 to 0.18% on 31 October this year, according to the latest wave of the firm's Euro Offshore Savings Account index. It reveals, while the ECB rate dropped by 50 basis points to 3.75% on 8 October, the overall average interest rate on euro offshore savings accounts fell by only 36bps. As a result, the average return on euro offshore savings accounts before the period was 3.57%, just 18bps below the ECB rate. This is the smallest gap recorded since the index started in 2006. Laura Preston, a spokeswoman for Investec Private Bank in Guern...