Investec Bank (Channel Islands) has launched an index to track the rates of euro-denominated offshore savings accounts against movements in ...

Investec Bank (Channel Islands) has launched an index to track the rates of euro-denominated offshore savings accounts against movements in the European Central Bank’s interest rates. Investec said the initial findings suggest accounts are lagging behind the ECB, as the ECB’s base rate increased by 0.5 per cent in the six-month period between October 2005 and March 2006. But the average rate of the 36 euro-denominated offshore accounts making up the index only increased by an average 0.19 per cent. Investec said this affected returns. In October 2005, the same accounts returned an average 1.46 per cent, some 0.54 per cent below the ECB’s 2 per cent. In March, Investec found the difference was even more pronounced, despite the returns improving. The average account return was 1.65 per cent, while the ECB’s was 2.5 per cent.