According to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), the maximum rates for credit cards, credit lines, current bank accounts, overdraft facilities are set at 15.7% in the first quarter of 2023.
The information, which was posted on the Bank Customer portal on Friday 30th of December, relates to the period between January and March and shows a decrease of 0.3% from the prior quarter in both the annual rate of overall effective charges (TAEG) and the nominal annual interest rate (TAN).
In credit agreements for the purchase of new cars, the maximum TAEG stays at 8.9% for credits with a reserve of ownership but increases from 3.3% to 3.5% in the case of leasing.
The maximum TAEG for used vehicles increases from 5.1% to 5.5% in leasing and stays at 11.9% in operations with reserve of ownership.
Regarding personal credit rates, these drop from 6.8% to 6.3% when used for education, health, renewable energy, or equipment leasing, and from 13.3% to 13.0% when used for other personal credits.
The Bank of Portugal sets and publishes the maximum rates for the various consumer loan products on a quarterly basis.
The regulation states that the maximum rates "may not exceed the average TAEG of all consumer credit agreements and are based on the average Annual Global Effective Charge Rates (TAEG) practised on the market by credit institutions in the previous quarter" said BdP.
The maximum rate scheme further stipulates that the maximum TAEG of contracts for overdraft facilities with a one-month repayment obligation and the maximum annual nominal rate (TAN) of credit overruns are both equal to the maximum TAEG defined for credit agreements in the form of overdraft facilities with a longer repayment period.