PCP says it’s a ‘scandal’ that banks are also selling savings certificates

This Sunday, the leader of the PKP called it a scandal that banks can now sell savings certificates, saying that such a measure demonstrates that “the bank decides and the government implements it.”

“If there were any doubts that the bank decides, and the government implements it, there is evidence of this. This is a scandal. A scandal that, despite everything, has the advantage of demonstrating in practice that it is not difficult for the government to serve the interests of economic groups,” said Paulo Raimundo, speaking to reporters in Ribeira Grande on the sidelines of a meeting with the agricultural association of Sao Miguel in the Azores.

The Secretary General of the PKP also warned that “when it comes to matters of economic interest, it is not only the government that protects them”, as “the SDP, IL and Chega stand for one defense”.

Savings Certificates (CAs) can also be subscribed to in physical networks (branches) and digital networks of banks by joining CTT and Espaços do Cidadão in the sale of this savings product.

The expansion of the CA sales network has already been defended and is currently being implemented through a diploma that suspended the sale of series E certificates and created a series F with a lower interest rate, but which the government justifies as a measure that is part of “proper public debt management”.

The base interest rate of the CA E series, which was sold between 2017 and June 2, 2023, follows the evolution of the three-month Euribor, and the calculation formula cannot lead to a value below 0% and above 3.5%. plus a constant surcharge of up to 1%.

The maximum holding period for these securities was 10 years.

The base interest rate of the new Series F also varies depending on the three-month Euribor, not exceeding 2.5%, plus a persistence premium of up to 1.75%.

The suspension of the E series and its replacement by a new one drew several criticisms from the opposition, namely the BE and the PCP, with the communists demanding an urgent parliamentary hearing of the Secretary of State for Finance on the understanding that it was “a favor the government has given the bank”.

An opinion dismissed by Finance Minister João Nuno Méndez in a statement to reporters on Saturday, in which he responded to criticism and said “there were no concessions to the bank.”

On Saturday, the general secretary of the PKP said this Sunday that “the bank commands and the government carries out,” adding that the finance minister’s excuse that “there were no concessions to the bank” was “laughs.”