Minister for Finance Michael McGrath wants Irish banks to increase interest rates for depositors. Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillOn Monday, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said he wanted Irish banks to increase their interest rates for depositors, following a series of rate hikes of from the ECB over the past 13 months.
He was right to criticise the banks for their miserly rates, although the National Treasury Management Agency has been glacially slow in improving the rates on offer for State savings products. This is set to change, we are told.But most consumers – and certainly those on low incomes – would prefer if the Minister focused his attention on energy providers, and pressured them to lower their prices.