Decisions to mitigate the impact of lifting the moratorium on companies in the sectors most affected by the pandemic will be announced “in a very short time frame”. The guarantee comes from Beatrice Freitas, Executive President of Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), the institution that will be involved in these measures.
At the end of April, according to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), companies had € 23,242 million in outstanding loans. And, according to the government, most of these companies will have “terms and conditions to resume debt service that they had before the moratorium, without the need for special support.” However, in sectors such as tourism, which has been particularly hit by the pandemic, companies will no longer have this capacity from September when the moratorium ends. Therefore, the Government is working with companies and banks on solutions that include the restructuring of this debt.
As Economic Minister Pedro Siza Vieira explained last month, the goal is to ensure that this debt can be repaid over a longer period, at the same time that it can have a grace period to repay capital of “one or two. years. ”To convince the banks, the government“ is ready to guarantee part of this debt. ”This is where the BPF appears, the institution through which these guarantees should be provided. At the hearings in the Assembly of the Republic, Beatrice Freitas said that the measures have not yet been determined, but assures that it will be in the near future.
“We are convinced that the issue of moratoriums will indeed arise in the most affected sectors, one of which is tourism,” he said in this regard. “We are working with the government on measures that have not yet been identified that will allow companies in these sectors to face the end of the moratorium. There are several possibilities. We are also in talks with the regulator. variables we need to take into account, ”he added.
He concluded: “In a very short time, we will stabilize an understanding that will allow the Minister of Economy to announce measures for these hardest hit sectors to end the moratorium.”
There is no estimate of losses on the credit line.
At the same hearing, the BPF president also said that at the moment there is no estimate of the losses that the state could incur due to guarantees provided through credit lines to support companies affected by the pandemic.
In 2020, 61 thousand companies received loans secured by the state in the amount of 8.9 billion euros. The guarantees provided for these funding sources amount to $ 7,245 million. And so far there is no estimate of what part of this amount can lead to losses for the state.
“This is an assessment made over time and with the development of the macroeconomic situation and the situation in the company. Impairment associated with these items is also monitored. But there is no estimate of potential losses. Estimated at the end of the year. The last one ends now that the risk analysis model has been updated, ”said Beatrice Freitas.
