This is because during the period in question, between 2003 and 2023, borrowers mainly opted for bank loans indexed to Euribor interest rates with a variable rate, according to estimates from the Portuguese Banking Association (APB).

According to Vítor Bento, president of APB, “during the 21 years that passed between 2003 and 2023, the difference between the interest rates of the Portuguese banking system and those of the Euro Area was around 0.9 percentage points, which if applied to the average balance of real estate credit in this period, suggests an accumulated saving of charges for Portuguese families of around 20 billion euros (around one billion per year, on average), that is, around 1/3 of the interest paid.”

The idea was left by Vítor Bento at the APB 40th anniversary conference, dedicated to the theme “The role of banking in economic-social development”, writes ECO.

Quoted by the publication, the president of APB explained that the savings achieved by Portuguese families in the period in question occurred, above all, because there was a “preference for a variable rate”. This preference “which circumstances favoured until very recently” before the European Central Bank (ECB) started to raise interest rates, he said.