Press conference of the Council of Ministers https://t.co/165Ok9Wxo2
– Portuguese Republic (@govpt) September 21, 2023
Fernando Medina, Minister of Finance, at the end of the Council of Ministers, highlighted the exposure of credits in recent years to the “abrupt increase in interest rates”, something that greatly affects Portugal, as most loans have variable interest rates . According to the government official, about 90% are exposed to interest rates.
The minister points out that 60% of the loans have been taken out at low rates and that there has been a rapid increase in a short time.
In this sense, it points to a series of new measures to help families cope with very high interest rates, with families facing a double impact, related to inflation and rising interest rates.
Fernando Medina announces three measures to help families:
– 1. “reduce and stabilize mortgage payments.” The benefit will be constant and lower than the current one for two years. The reduction is achieved by applying an index for two years that corresponds to 70% of the 6-month Euribor, always ensuring that the amount due does not increase. After these two years you will return to the normal contract regime. If interest rates drop during those two years, the borrower can return to the normal contract. If they rise again, the borrower can return to this model.
– 2. “strengthen interest rate subsidies”
– 3. “promote early repayment” of loans
During the most recent Council of Ministers, on the 14th, the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, announced that at next Thursday’s meeting the government would adopt “new responses” to support families experiencing problems with housing loans and house rent. .
On the 13th, after the August inflation figures were released, showing that the value of rental prices could rise by 6.94% in 2024, if the update is not capped again, Prime Minister António Costa said that the government evaluating the value of the brake to be applied to rental prices, emphasizing the need to adopt a “balanced solution”.
Source: DN
