€20 million of consumer credit requested per day in Portugal

Consumer credit is rising. During the first half of the year, banks and financial institutions have provided around €3,7bn in consumer credit loans. It turns out to be a new maximum record for Portugal, as the BdP (Bank of Portugal) showed, and it means that on average people are claiming for €20m a day in this type of credit.

According to the BdP, in June alone, financial institutions lent around €631m in consumer loans. This amount represents a reduction in comparison to the previous month, in which the record amount of €669m in consumer credit allowances was hit. However, it has taken the total for the first six months of the year to another all-time high of €3,688bn. BdP’s records only date back to 2013.

The acceleration rate of consumer credit approval was also quite noticeable during the first semester. The approval for this type of credit increased by 18%, almost double of last year’s 9,9% increase.

This acceleration [in credit approval] was motivated by the improvement of the Portuguese families’ economic prospects, which have been more and more attracted towards assuming financial commitments with banks.

The growth in financing levels crossed all sections of consumption, but cars were the one contributing the most to the growth. During the first half of the year, banks and financial institutions have handed around €1,541bn in car loans, a 19% year-on-year increase,  while other personal credits, that include for instance credit for vacations, registered a year-on-year increase of 21,2% to €1,582bn.

The credit cards, credit lines, current credit accounts, and others accounted to a total of €531m during the first semester, which represented a 4,7% year-on-year increase.

In the education, health, energy and equipment leasing, the granting of credit accounted to €33,9m, 38% more than on the first half of 2017.