Prudential regulator data, which the Treasury report draws its findings from, indicates household bank deposits amounted to $1.1 trillion in November 2020, an increase of about $113 billion from January 2020.

Non-financial businesses' deposits also amounted to $691 billion, up about $104 billion from January, with a cumulative total of more than $200 billion.

This coincides with the household savings rate skyrocketing to 46-year highs throughout the pandemic.

Need somewhere to store cash and earn interest? The table below features savings accounts with some of the highest interest rates on the market.

Provider

4000$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]More details
  • A high-interest online savings account with no monthly fees, easy withdrawals and award-winning digital banking
  • No withdrawal notice periods or interest rate penalties
  • Save up to 10% on eGift cards at over 50 retailers with Macquarie Marketplace
Disclosure

Savings Account

  • A high-interest online savings account with no monthly fees, easy withdrawals and award-winning digital banking
  • No withdrawal notice periods or interest rate penalties
  • Save up to 10% on eGift cards at over 50 retailers with Macquarie Marketplace
Disclosure
400$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]More details
  • Special offer: Savings Accelerator (Kick Starter offer).
  • For a limited time, new ING customers can get a bonus 0.70% p.a. on their savings rate on balances of $150,000 up to $500,000 for the first 4 months. T&Cs apply.
  • If your balance is over $500,000 (but less than $5 million) you will earn the ongoing variable rate of 4.7%
Disclosure

Savings Accelerator

  • Special offer: Savings Accelerator (Kick Starter offer).
  • For a limited time, new ING customers can get a bonus 0.70% p.a. on their savings rate on balances of $150,000 up to $500,000 for the first 4 months. T&Cs apply.
  • If your balance is over $500,000 (but less than $5 million) you will earn the ongoing variable rate of 4.7%
Disclosure
000$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]More details
  • Set up your Pay Cycle and connect your accounts from over 140 financial institutions.
  • Retrace your spending steps into categories with Spending Footprint.
  • No monthly or international fees on any of your transactions.
Disclosure

Save Account

  • Set up your Pay Cycle and connect your accounts from over 140 financial institutions.
  • Retrace your spending steps into categories with Spending Footprint.
  • No monthly or international fees on any of your transactions.
Disclosure
010000$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]More details
  • Earn up to 5.20% pa by depositing $1,000 in the previous month
  • No account fees
  • Easy access to your money

AMP Saver Account

  • Earn up to 5.20% pa by depositing $1,000 in the previous month
  • No account fees
  • Easy access to your money
010000$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]$product[$field["value"]]More details
  • Deposit at least $1,000+ each month from an external source
  • Make 5 or more eligible transactions. Grow your savings balance each month
Disclosure

Savings Maximiser

  • Deposit at least $1,000+ each month from an external source
  • Make 5 or more eligible transactions. Grow your savings balance each month
Disclosure
Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning

All products with a link to a product provider’s website have a commercial marketing relationship between us and these providers. These products may appear prominently and first within the search tables regardless of their attributes and may include products marked as promoted, featured or sponsored. The link to a product provider’s website will allow you to get more information or apply for the product. By de-selecting “Show online partners only” additional non-commercialised products may be displayed and re-sorted at the top of the table. For more information on how we’ve selected these “Sponsored”, “Featured” and “Promoted” products, the products we compare, how we make money, and other important information about our service, please click here. Rates correct as of December 7, 2024. View disclaimer.

Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning

Treasury appears to be using these findings as the basis for winding back JobKeeper and the increased JobSeeker supplement by March.

“The unprecedented economic support provided by the Morrison Government during the crisis means that even as JobKeeper and other temporary emergency support measures taper off a fiscal cliff is avoided,’’ Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

Previously, Mr Frydenberg has also said JobKeeper is a "temporary program designed to taper off as economic confidence and momentum builds".

The unemployment rate currently sits at 6.8%, while the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer confidence index sits at a ten-year high.

However, after the Government proposed scrapping public holiday penalty rates, Labor industrial relations spokesperson Tony Burke said the Government "can't have it both ways".

"The Government says the economy is doing well enough that businesses no longer need JobKeeper. But then they say the economy is doing so badly they need to cut the pay of workers," he said.

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) has also warned against cutting JobSeeker.

“The Federal Government is on a course to undo the remarkable achievement of alleviating poverty for 2.3 million people, plus over a million children, by repeatedly slashing the historic Coronavirus Supplement of $550 per fortnight introduced in March," ACOSS chief Cassandra Goldie said in December.

Funny money and skewed data

The raft of government support measures throughout the pandemic and recession has caused some data to be skewed, namely the consumer price index (inflation), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"While the effects of COVID-19 on the CPI are subsiding, they continue to impact some series in the December 2020 quarter, albeit to a smaller extent than in the June and September 2020 quarters," the ABS report said.

"In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant, and in some cases, sustained shift in the spending patterns of Australian households."

The lockdowns and scarcity in some household goods, such as groceries, and office supplies, has skewed the CPI measurements by up to 7% throughout the June and September quarters.

Government support has also caused wild swings in measuring inflation in key sectors, such as childcare (pictured below). 

"The CPI measures the out-of-pocket household expense, so any scheme that lowers the cost of the good or service is reflected as a price fall in the CPI," the ABS report said.

"Conversely, when the scheme ends and the cost of the good or service returns to the previous amount, this is reflected as a price rise in the CPI."

Other federal and state government initiatives impacting data include the HomeBuilder grant, and other grants seen in Western Australia and Tasmania.

The WA electricity credit of $600, and presumably the Queensland electricity rebates, also impact electricity data.

childcare3

Source: ABS

Photo by iMattSmart on Unsplash