Getting blood out of a stone

Savers suffer.  The Guardian reports:

Fears have been raised that banks and building societies were preparing to cut rates for savers by more than last week’s reduction to 0.25% by the Bank of England, after First Direct became one of the first major firms to take the axe to savings rates.

Threadneedle Street’s move on Thursday to cut interest rates to a new historic low has forced all lenders and saving institutions to embark on urgent product reviews....First Direct, owned by HSBC, is cutting the rate on its cash Isa from 1.3% to 0.9%, while the rate on its bonus savings account will be chopped from 0.75% to 0.4%. A range of other accounts will be subject to a 0.25 percentage point cut. HSBC said it had cut rates on a number of its accounts, but none by more than the base rate reduction.

If before they were only paying peanuts, savers will now get even fewer peanuts.