The interest rates for savings certificates are set to decrease in April, with the base rate falling below 2.5%. This change is attributed to the three-month Euribor average, which is used to calculate the interest rates for this financial product, settling at 2.414% this month.
Economic reports indicate that this value has fallen below the 2.5% base rate established for Series F for the first time in two years.
This development implies that investors will receive lower returns next month.
The amount invested in savings certificates rose again in February, on a year-over-year basis, reaching 35.755 billion euros, a growth of 5.1%, according to data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP).
This marked the highest investment in savings certificates (CA) since the BdP series began in December 1998.
In net terms, the CA stock in February increased by 1.739 billion euros compared to the second month of 2024, while the month-on-month increase was 630 million euros.
Following strong demand driven by the rise of Euribor rates, the CA began to lose savers’ interest when, in June of last year, the series of certificates being marketed (‘Series E’) was replaced by ‘Series F’, with a lower interest rate.
Nevertheless, investors have once again chosen this instrument, effectively offsetting the disinvestment in treasury certificates (CT), which fell in February to 9.445 billion euros, 142 million euros less than in January and an 11.7% decline year-over-year.
The amount invested in CTs has been decreasing consecutively since October 2021, when it reached a peak of 17.856 billion euros.
According to statistical data from the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency (IGCP), new CT issuances amounted to six million euros in January, while redemptions totaled 161 million euros.
The lowest investment value in CA was recorded in November 2012 during Portugal’s adherence to the bailout plan when unemployment rates surged, with investments in these securities amounting to 9.7 billion euros.
