Savings certificates in banks are positive if the costs incurred by the issuer. SEDES advocates the importance of better remuneration of banks on deposits and government strengthening of government debt products.

SEDES considered this Friday as a positive opportunity to subscribe to savings certificates in banks to stimulate the currently reduced savings of Portuguese families, provided that the corresponding costs are borne by the issuer and not by the subscribers.

“The announced possibility of subscribing to savings certificates through the banking system represents an appropriate development, based on the assumption that remuneration for the services provided by banks will be borne by the issuer, and not by subscribers,” states the Observatory of Economic and Financial Policy SEDES – Association for Economic and Social development in the “Savings Reward Position” that Lusa had access to this Friday.

For the association “does not appear” “the reason for limiting subscription amounts to a maximum value (50,000 euros), which corresponds to 20% of that set for series E and 5% of that set for the previous series.” .

According to him, this fact “dramatically limits the ability to compete with other applications of family savings.”

In a paper shared with Lusa, the SEDES Economic and Financial Policy Review Board advocates the importance of better remuneration of banks on deposits and government reinforcement of public debt products to encourage household savings.

“Family savings are a key element of the macroeconomic balance and are essential to ensure healthy investment financing without hurting the external balance. An adequate savings rate is a fundamental assumption of a convergent and sustainable growth model based on high value-added investment and exports,” he emphasizes.

Noting that in 2022 the gross household saving rate in Portugal “was only 6.1%, which is very unfavorable compared to the countries of the European Union”, the association argues that “the conditions for competition need to be strengthened, which can contribute to an adequate reward for the savings applied in the banking system.

This is because, he argues, “the evidence shows” that the adjustment of savings rates by banking institutions did not reflect the “decisions of the monetary authorities”, which “means, in essence, cutting off one of the channels of transmission of monetary policy in the fight against inflation” .

In order to encourage household savings in Portugal, SEDES also argues that “the state should strengthen its role as a market regulator – either directly or through a public bank – by increasing the volume, diversification and availability of savings products offered to resident retail investors. with positive real interest rates.

“The interest and confidence that retail investors have shown in Treasury products should be used to increase the proportion of public debt held by Portuguese residents,” he says, adding that “at the same time, any measures that undermine that confidence.”

In addition, SEDES understands that “the government must also diversify its debt distribution channels to facilitate access for small retail investors, including debt placed on the capital markets, in this case with adequate information monitoring.”

Finally, the SEDES Economic and Financial Policy Observatory argues that “incentives—fiscal and otherwise—should be created for savings and their long-term investment in either public debt or the capital market, including encouraging contributions to supplementary social security funds.”

“Most of the debt in the hands of residents is a powerful element in reducing vulnerability to market fluctuations and sentiment from international investors,” the association emphasizes.

“Moreover,” he adds, “because the interest is paid to resident investors, there is no outflow of funds abroad, with the positive effect that this has on the current and capital balance sheet and on the economy.”

Thus, it is desirable for SEDES to “increase the presence of resident retail investors in public finance through appropriate products (such as savings certificates or OTRVs) distributed more widely, namely through banking channels and the Internet.”