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German finance minister told banks not to hit savers with negative rates: Bild

FILE PHOTO: German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz talks to media before the informal meeting of ministers for economic and financial affairs (ECOFIN) and Eurogroup in Helsinki, Finland, 13 September 2019. Lehtikuva/Martti Kainulainen via REUTERS

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Monday he had told banks not to pass on negative interest rates to savers after the European Central Bank cut deposit rates to a record low.

Scholz told mass-selling Bild newspaper that he opposed government guarantees to prevent negative rates for savers.

“I told bank chief very clearly that it would be a fairly bad idea to react by slapping negative rates on millions of savers,” Scholz was quoted as saying.

Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Joseph Nasr

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