Firstrung: Building societies had net withdrawals of £196m in January 2007 compared to net receipts of £212m in January 2006

"The net withdrawal of savings from building societies is not too surprising. We often see this in January, as people use their savings to pay off their Christmas bills. At the moment, it is difficult to say how savers are responding to higher rates, as these figures won't fully reflect the January rate rise. We expect that higher savings rates being offered by building societies should attract greater deposits in future months, especially as utility bills begin to reduce and consumers have more of their take home pay to play with."