In fact, during the period in question, between 2003 and 2023, borrowers mainly chose bank loans linked to Euribor interest rates with a variable interest rate, according to estimates by the Portuguese Banking Association.(with a bear).
According to Vitor Pinto, President of APB Bank, “In the 21 years between 2003 and 2023, the difference between interest rates in the Portuguese banking system and interest rates in the euro area was about 0.9 percentage points, which is the same as the Portuguese Central Bank.” The average mortgage balance over this period indicates a cumulative fee saving for Portuguese families of around 20 billion euros (about 1 billion per year on average), i.e. about a third of the interest paid.
The idea was launched by Vitor Pinto during the APB's 40th anniversary conference, dedicated to the topic “The role of the bank in economic and social development,” he wrote. A prefix meaning environment.
Quoting the publication, the APB President explained that the savings achieved by Portuguese households during the period in question were explained above all by “a preference for a variable rate”. It is a preference “for which conditions were favorable until very recently” for the ECB(European Central Bank) He said he did not start raising interest rates.