According to INE, "household final consumption expenditure increased more than disposable income, which led to a reduction of the savings rate to 4.4%."

The increase in disposable income was 0.7%, while consumption expenditure grew by 0.9%.

The increase in disposable income of households was due to the 1% increase in wages, up from 0.9% in the previous quarter.

The positive balance of property income, however, fell by 2.2%, contributing to the deceleration of disposable income.

"Property income received and paid showed rates of change of -1.8% and 3.8%, respectively," according to the official statistics office.

Household financing capacity was 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2018, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, mainly due to a 4.7% decrease in current savings.