Banco de Portugal Announces Revision of Efforts to Expand Access to Home Loans

Bank of Portugal deputy governor Clara Raposo said this Saturday that the central bank will revise its rate calculation, allowing more families to access home loans.

In an interview with Antena 1 and Jornal de Negócios, Clara Raposo revealed that this decision will be made later this year for new loans.

“I think it makes sense to revisit the macropudent recommendation,” he said.

Especially because, in the words of the spokesman, “we now have this summer period and the best opportunity to predict the future evolution of interest rates” to do so.

“We are looking to reduce the additional shock here a bit,” and if this is done, he continued, “in principle, we will have more families that can access credit.”

“There is a desire” to take action later this year, he said in the same interview.

Regarding the review of housing loans, Clara Raposo did not give specific figures, but added that the data available did not cause concern.

“In dialogue with banks and in the numbers that we have so far, we still have not found a figure that worries us so much about non-payments or difficulties for families in fulfilling their obligations,” he said.

And, according to the lieutenant governor, bad debt figures didn’t change significantly between the end of last year and the first quarter of this year.

Clara Raposo also mentioned that she understands the concerns of finance ministers who believe that the increase in interest rates is already enough to avoid a more recessive effect.

But he clarifies that the measures taken by the Portuguese government to minimize the impact of interest rate hikes and inflation are not in conflict with the ECB’s (European Central Bank) definitions, admitting, however, that there could be a surgical revision to preserve some fiscal discipline.

Asked about the ECB’s policy of raising interest rates, Clara Raposo said she was unsure whether to raise interest rates in July as it takes time for previous increases to have an impact on the economy.

However, he believed that, psychologically, the agents were already prepared for this increase.

The deputy governor also urged companies to reflect in consumer prices and profit margins the turnaround that has already taken place in the energy market and has led to higher costs for companies.

However, he does not believe that companies deliberately took advantage of rising inflation. What has happened is that some sectors that have already been identified have taken advantage of the situation, and this, according to the representative, “has a limit”.

In this sense, Clara Raposo calls for the common contribution of companies and employees.

However, in an interview published this Saturday, the deputy governor also asked for a “waiting period so that an inflation reduction that will convince everyone in Europe can be achieved.”