The Bank of Portugal has released its May figures for bad debt amongst Portugal’s residents, the numbers do not make happy reading.
In fact the volume of bad debt is the highest ever recorded, bringing distress, family break ups, medical problems and despair to a growing section of society.
Figures for loans in default started only in 1998 but the current message is clear and flies in the face of assurances from the government that everything is getting better, the trail of mortgage arrears and house repossessions is unsustainable and is wrecking family life on a scale never before witnessed.
Mortgage lending is the problem as in May bad loans in this category rose to €2,455 million, up from €2,322 million recorded in May 2013.
According to the Bank of Portugal’s May Statistical Bulletin, the total amount of doubtful mortgages and personal loans to households was €5,262 million, compared with €5,179 million registered in the same month of 2013.
This is a year in which the Portuguese economy is meant to be undergoing a revival but families that are unable to pay their mortgages tell another story.
For businesses, doubtful loans rose in May to €12,611 million in May, slightly up from €12,497 million the previous month.
