The governor of Banco de Portugal (BdP) today argued that banks have room to increase deposit remuneration and improve savings incentives, noting that the fees paid in Portugal remain among the lowest.
© Lusa
08/10/2026
by
Lusa
“ Ainterest rates given to depositors still remain much lower than in other European countries,” said Álvaro Santos Pereira at the “Money Conference”, organized by Diário de Notícias, stressing that the difference also occurs in the current deposits.
According to the data submitted by the governor, in July, Portugal had an average rate of 1.59% in the new fixed-term deposits of individuals, placing the country among the euro area Member States with lower remuneration.
The average euro area was 2.14%.
Finland, the Netherlands and Italy had the highest average rates of 2.58%, 2.55% and 2.47%, respectively.
In this way, Álvaro Santos Pereira, considered that “there is room to increase deposit rates and there is room to improve incentives to save”, adding that “if we want companies to invest more and families to save more, it is essential to improve the country’s saving conditions.”.
Deposit remuneration is particularly important in a context where inflation has exceeded interest rates.
“ Inflation in recent years has been systematically above interest rates and obviously there is a loss of purchasing power for those using these financial instruments ", warned Santos Pereira.
The issue of deposit remuneration arises at a time when the Portuguese banking system presents, according to the BdP, a more robust financial position.
The capital ratios have increased with the highest quality capital ratio (CET1) to reach 18.2% in June, while the total capital ratio was 20.9%.
Moreover, industry profitability indicators remain high and stable, with a return on equity (ROE) of 13.5% in June, according to the data presented by the governor.
The credit quality has also improved, with the non-productive credit ratio (NPL) at 2.1% in June.
At the same time, bank loans have increased significantly, with housing loans rising to 10.6% in June.
In the presentation of the “Money Conference”, Santos Pereira also stressed that the banking sector faces challenges marked by technological transformation and Artificial Intelligence (IA), by the evolution of the profile of the bank client, by the fight against fraud, competition, cybersecurity and regulation.