Almost half of people in Lithuania have been or are saving money for the upcoming winter, while about a third cannot afford to save, according to a new poll by Vilmorus for BNS.
Sales figures suggest that households are increasingly limiting their purchases, while soaring energy prices, inflation and financial uncertainty are pushing them to save.
The survey shows that almost 49% build up savings for the winter, especially in the face of significantly higher heating bills.
Among those who save, the largest group are people with a monthly income of between 401 and 500 euros per household member (60.2%) and pensioners (54.5%), the survey shows.
Viktorija Tauraite, a researcher at the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management of Vytautas Magnus University, says October’s consumption data from Statistics Lithuania indicate that people mostly spend on basic necessities where cutting expenditures is virtually impossible.
“People mostly spend on food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, fuel and transport, and we can’t really talk about saving in these categories as they make up the bulk of the basket,” Tauraite told BNS.
As winter approaches, people are spending less on education and communication services, as well as on traveling and eating out.
“People are actually spending less money in cafes and restaurants during this time, trying to save money, trying not to go out and making lunches for work at home. And visually, we see fewer people in cafes and restaurants as prices are rising there too, so this could be one alternative to saving money,” Tauraite said.
66% of unemployed people and 53% from households with monthly income below 400 euros per person said they had no means to save.
Vilmorus carried out the survey of 1,002 people on November 10-19. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
