Banking: National Savings & Investments Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Banking: National Savings & Investments

Baroness Kramer Excerpts
Wednesday 5th December 2012

(11 years, 5 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Peston Portrait Lord Peston
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My Lords—

Baroness Kramer Portrait Baroness Kramer
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My Lords—

None Portrait Noble Lords
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This side!

Lord Sassoon Portrait Lord Sassoon
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My Lords, there are 26 million savers with NS&I. We take their interests very seriously. They have over £100 billion invested. It is one of the largest savings organisations in the country, and that will continue.

Baroness Kramer Portrait Baroness Kramer
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My Lords, I would like to challenge the Minister’s comments on NS&I. Funding for Lending is a taxpayer-driven programme which has created the collateral damage of allowing banks to cut the interest rate that they offer on savings products, and NS&I has had to follow by cutting its interest rates on savings products. At this time, when savers are under such pressure, could the Minister consider lifting the best-buy restriction so that NS&I could start leading the industry back into paying decent savings returns rather than following the industry on a downward spiral?