The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Canadians have been socking away money at a frantic pace to cope with higher interest rates, but with hundreds of billions of dollars sitting on the sidelines and interest rates coming down, one economist questions how long Canadians can resist the temptation to spend. The Globe's Jason Kirby writes that Canada's savings rate, which reflects net savings as a share of household disposable income, has risen steadily since mid-2022, reaching 7.2 per cent in the second quarter, the highest level, outside of the pandemic period, in nearly 30 years. That is a contrast to the United States, where the savings rate has plunged compared with before the pandemic. American consumers are spending while Canadians have hunkered down. Scotiabank economist Derek Holt estimates households are sitting on excess savings of $470-billion. Ahead of Wednesday's decision by the Bank of Canada to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.25 per cent, Mr. Holt warned that if the bank gets too aggressive as it brings down interest rates it "could unleash a tsunami of consumer and housing demand given how high excess savings and pent-up demand are becoming."