Portuguese families savings at lowest levels ever

Portuguese family savings are at an all-time low according to the consumer watchdog Deco which reveals that most families don’t even have an emergency fund to cover illness and unemployment.

The savings rate on available income for Portuguese families stood at around 11% in 2001 and 2002 but have this year reached a new low.
According to statistics published in September by the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE) family savings are now at around 5.9% of disposable income.
A large section of Portuguese families have low salaries which do not enable them to set aside a set amount monthly towards their savings for retirement or in case of redundancy or illness.
Although there is a set idea that money is always available by loan borrowing, using credit cards or revolving credit, the truth of the matter is that the loan money, including that for home loans, belongs to the bank, credit or mortgage financing company and the money has to be paid back with interest.
With so many loans and low wages it means that families increasingly more do not have the spare cash to save.
“We suggest that at the end of each month each family carries out a strict budget and declare war on waste with a view to economising and increasing the monthly amount they can set aside for savings” says Deco.