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Belgian bank to charge negative interest rates: report

Xinhua, April 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

KBC is to become the first bank in Belgium to charge negative interest rates for large businesses, according to a report in De Tijd on Thursday.

This means that companies must pay to deposit their money at the bank.

According to the bank, the negative rate only applies to a few big companies.

"As a rule we adopt a zero interest rate, but we make an exception for a few large companies," KBC told De Tijd. "There is no negative rate for 99.9 percent of companies," according to the report.

The KBC move followed the introduction of negative interest rate on the money market, where the 3-month interbank maturity fell below zero for the first time earlier this week.

In Belgium, a negative savings rate for individuals is prohibited. A recent ruling by the Finance Ministry stated that a savings account must have a minimum interest rate of 0.11 percent. Enditem