Thailand’s Finance Ministry has highlighted five strategies to promote saving habits among Thais, which will help prepare the population to enter retirement with more stable finances, a move deemed necessary as the country is becoming an aged society.

The race to lure demand deposits, or current account savings account (CASA), among banks seems to be decelerating as it is more difficult for them to attract the cheap capital source in the context of high interest rates on term savings.

Thanks to increases in savings interest rates, deposits at banks increased strongly in the first two months of this year after declining last year.

Vietnam ranks the fifth most optimistic country globally with an index score of 117 in the latest Consumer Confidence Index released by Nielsen, its highest score in the past five years and up five points from the last quarter of 2016.

Growth cannot be sustainable unless it is economically, financially and socially inclusive, APEC officials said at a symposium in Ho Chi Minh City on August 28.

Institutions and individuals deposited some 2.57 quadrillion VND (113.2 billion USD) at eight listed commercial banks by the end of 2016.