Thus citizens of the GDR who were in the possession of foreign exchange (typically Deutsche Marks sent by Western relatives or, for a small minority such as writers and artists, overseas royalties earnings) were obliged to deposit this in a dedicated foreign exchange account with the state bank. In order to encourage compliance, and thereby help “drain” the circulation of foreign currency from the economy, these accounts carried a 1% interest rate premium over the nationally determined fixed interest of 3.25% per annum paid on all other consumer saving accounts.