Irish consumers are becoming increasingly optimistic about their personal finances, a new savings index showed today.

The Nationwide UK (Ireland)/ESRI Saving Index found that consumers are altering their spending and saving patterns, with the number willing to spend surplus cash showing a slight increase as consumers aim for a healthier balance of saving versus spending.

About half of consumers said they would use the extra money to pay off debts, such as mortgages, and 35 per cent would rather save it. Only 10 per cent said they would spend surplus cash, but that was 3 per cent higher than February last year.

Managing director of Nationwide UK (Ireland) Brendan Synnott said it was an encouraging sign.

"This could be a positive for the exchequer and reflects the sentiment that Government policies and economic conditions are not pushing people towards precautionary saving as much as they have been in the past," he said.

According to the survey, only 16 per cent of savers said they expect to save less in six months, compared with 45 per cent in February 2011. Some 12 per cent said they would save more, while 72 per cent said they would maintain their current level of saving.

A third of consumers said it was a good time to save, slightly higher than the 31 per cent a year earlier. However, the number of people who think that the current Government's policy encourages saving fell to 7 per cent from 10 per cent in February 2011.

The ongoing euro zone crisis could affect how consumers view saving in the future.

"While these signs of returning optimism are encouraging, Ireland's economic performance and the ongoing euro zone crisis will factor heavily on whether these emerging positive trends continue," Mr Synnott said.

The survey found that 31 per cent of people are saving between €1 and €100 per month, with 27 per cent saving up to €200 and 18 per cent saving more than that every month.