“Maintaining the interest rate at this moment is the right decision because it is important to keep a margin to prevent potential future shocks,” said Álvaro Santos Pereira in Coimbra at the Avelar Brotero High School before a class on saving.
The former Minister of Economy, who took office at the Bank of Portugal at the beginning of this month, succeeding Mário Centeno, emphasized to journalists that “the monetary policy did what it had to do to be in a situation of price stability.”
“We know what happened in recent years when inflation rose to quite high levels that caused people to lose purchasing power,” he highlighted.
For the governor of the Bank of Portugal, the decision by the European Central Bank on Thursday shows that, at present, inflation is at the 2% target, “in a good position.”
Álvaro Santos Pereira recalled, however, that in recent years the eurozone has experienced many economic shocks — the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis following the invasion of Ukraine, and the tariffs from the United States.
“Because of all these shocks, it is important we have a margin so that if there is another major shock, we can react,” said the governor of the Bank of Portugal, who, accompanied by the Minister of Education, conducted a class on financial literacy at the school where he completed secondary education, as part of Savings Day.
The economist considered this initiative of “utmost importance” given that Portugal has “quite low” financial literacy indices compared to other countries.
“This initiative from the Ministry of Education, along with supervisory authorities, is crucial to helping people when they have to make financial decisions [so that] they can better understand the consequences,” he said.
