Members of the Budget and Finance Commission will urgently call the Secretary of State for Finance to parliament on the end of the ‘E’ series of Savings Certificates and the distribution of this product by banks.
The deputies unanimously approved this Wednesday the request submitted by the PCP for an urgent hearing by the Secretary of State for the Treasury, João Nuno Mendes, on the suspension of issuance of series ‘E’ savings certificates, as well as the part of the BE application that called this official.
On the other hand, it was failed the part of the BE application that also urgently called the Committee on Budget and Finance (COF) the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, for the vote against the PS.
Along the way, it was also due to the vote against the PS, Chega’s request for an urgent audience with the Minister of Finance and the president of the Board of Directors of the Treasury and Public Debt Management Agency (IGCP), Miguel Martín .
At stake is the end of the ‘E’ series of Savings Certificates (CA) and the start of the ‘F’ series, with lower remuneration, an alteration that allows the bank to also become a sales channel for this financial product.
During the discussion on the requirements, the PCP deputy Duarte Alves considered that the Assembly of the Republic (AR) “cannot ignore a decision that affects savings”, but also “the relationship with the bank itself”.
Argument shared by the BE deputy Mariana Mortágua who defended that it is important to discuss the “moment of the decision taken, after the declaration of the banks”, as well as the commissions that the Republic will pay or not to private banks for the distribution of the product.
Chega’s deputy, Rui Afonso, also maintained that CAs are an “important savings instrument for the Portuguese” and that “it allows them to be less dependent on bank financing.”
CA subscriptions are no longer carried out only at CTT or Espaços do Cidadão branches, but are also available “in the physical or digital networks of any financial or payment institution registered with Banco de Portugal and indicated for this purpose by the IGCP”.
The suspension of the E series and its replacement by the new one generated several criticisms from the opposition, who accuse the government of giving in or doing a favor to the banks.
The accusation was rejected by the Secretary of State for Finance, João Nuno Mendes, in a statement to journalists on Saturday, in which he responded to the criticism and stated that “there was zero concession to the bank.”
In response to Lusa, an official source from the APB said that “the banks had no prior knowledge, neither of the decision on the Savings Certificates, nor of the banks’ intention to be involved in their sale.”
The same source stressed that the decision will be made by each financial institution: “Once the conditions of this intervention are known, each bank will proceed to its analysis and decide for itself.”
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, considered this Monday that the change in the conditions of the savings certificates constitutes an “implicit call to the bank” to offer more interest on deposits.
Marcelo “worried” about the suspension of savings certificates asks the bank for an “effort”
Source: Observadora
