Banco Fomento should help support recovery

The chairman of bank BCP says that Portugal’s new development bank Banco Português de Fomento which aims to invest in national and overseas projects, should be involved in the nation’s recovery.

In an interview with ECO, Nuno Amado says that the BPF should have a relevant role in supporting companies after the credit moratoria.
Amado has warned about the negative impact on the banking sector if the Portuguese parliament approves a bill to extend the moratoria period without this being aligned with European rules. “It would have undesirable effects that could last years,” he said.
Portugal was one of the countries which most took advantage of the bank moratoria, with a total of €45.6Bn of credit covered by the measures (over 20% of the total of the banking sector’s credit), according to the latest data from the Bank of Portugal.
The Portuguese parliament has a proposal on the table to extend the moratoria by six months for most loans, except ones that have been applied for this year.
Nuno Amado believes that the moratoria “must be in line with rules laid down by the EU, namely recommendations of the European Banking Association (EBA), so that within these rules “we would have as much flexibility as possible to support those sectors which have been most affected by the pandemic and families that demonstrably have been also.”
The BPI chairman also says that the Government should work on other fronts to deal with the question of the moratoria and suggest proposals for the “implementation of public-private support of a complementary nature to help companies that will enable them to strengthen their structures in a viable manner and it is here that the new Banco de Fomento can have a relevant role,” says Nuno Amado.