The behavior of the three-month Euribor and the formula for calculating the interest rate of Series F savings certificates (currently the only one available) leads a financial analyst from Deco to indicate that, starting in April, the interest rate on these public debt securities will decrease to around 2.415%, after almost two years at 2.5%.
In practical terms, this means that those who subscribe to certificates in March will still benefit from the 2.5% gross rate in the first quarter when interest is due. Subscriptions made in April will be remunerated at a rate of around 2.4%.
The decrease was anticipated, considering the trend of the index, although the value applied in savings certificates has been increasing consecutively for five months, reaching a new historical high of 35.755 million euros in February, according to data from the Bank of Portugal.
Regarding the ranking of average interest rates on deposits in the eurozone, recent data placed Portugal fifth among countries with the lowest rates. António Ribeiro noted that “Portuguese banks have never been particularly generous” in this regard and admitted that “perhaps this is one reason why the Portuguese have been channeling more savings into savings certificates.”
“I would say that the [interest rate] decreases are likely to continue in the coming months and, obviously, [those of] term deposits will also continue to fall,” António Ribeiro mentioned, adding that, in this context, the question arises as to whether the savings certificates “are still interesting or not” with these decreases.
Deco Proteste’s analysis of deposit offers in March revealed that “there were about three dozen deposits on the market with interest rates higher than those of savings certificates.”
However, the financial analyst pointed out that for those seeking a risk-free, medium/long-term savings application with regular reinforcements, certificates may be an interesting product.
António Ribeiro reiterated, however, the characteristics of Series F certificates, which have led Deco Proteste not to particularly recommend this savings product. In addition to the lower maximum interest rate (2.5%), the retention bonus was also reduced to about half in the first nine years compared to the previous series.
Recently, the Governor of the Bank of Portugal (BdP), Mário Centeno, stated that it is “not very understandable that there is a significant difference between the remuneration of bank deposits at the central bank and the remuneration of deposits that banks offer their clients.”
For the analyst at Deco Proteste, this observation by the highest authority of the BdP aligns with the warnings that the association has long been making.
“Perhaps there should be some fairness, some correction to increase the income from savings, especially for small savers,” António Ribeiro noted, highlighting that despite the slight increase in the savings rate, the interest rates offered are lower than inflation, which means that, in real terms, “money loses value.”
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