BERLIN, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Most German firms have tried to evade bank charges due to negative interest rates, a study published on Wednesday by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research showed.
Nearly one in five enterprises in Germany (18.9 percent) experienced attempts by banks to charge negative interest on their deposits, according to a survey of 4,000 firms conducted by Ifo. Medium-sized and large companies were more heavily affected than smaller ones.
However, the majority of firms also sought to get around negative interest rates by negotiating with their bank or by switching to other financial institutions. Only 8 percent of firms accepted negative interest rates.
Another strategy employed by business leaders was to increase investment activity.
"(This) is interesting from a macroeconomic perspective since it will have not only a monetary but also real-economy impact," the study's author Christa Hainz said.
Banks in Germany must currently pay the European Central Bank a negative interest rate of 0.4 percent on a large share of their deposits held at the German Central Bank (Bundesbank).
No study of the impact of negative interest rates on German business had been conducted prior to Ifo's survey.
