European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions

The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist
in the development of better social, employment and
work-related policies

EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level policy measures

Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure PT-2020-13/990 Updated – measures in Portugal

Banking moratoriums

Moratórias bancárias

Country Portugal , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 27 March 2020 – 31 December 2021
Context COVID-19
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Measures to prevent social hardship
– Preventing over-indebtedness
Author Heloisa Perista and Maria da Paz Campos Lima (CESIS)
Measure added 13 July 2020 (updated 17 November 2021)

Background information

The Decree-Law 10-J/2020, of 26 March, in force since 27 March, established extraordinary measures for the protection of bank clients in the existing context of public health emergency, creating a moratorium regime regarding the fulfilment of the obligations due for credit contracts. This moratorium in is force until 30 September 2020.

The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 41/2020, of 6 June, that approved the Economic and Social Stabilization Programme extends the existing banking moratorium until 31 March 2021.

Content of measure

The Decree-Law 10-J/2020, in force since 27 March, established extraordinary measures for the protection of bank clients in the existing context of public health emergency, creating a moratorium regime regarding the fulfillment of the obligations due for credit contracts. This moratorium was initially in force until 30 September 2020 and was extended by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers 41/2020, of 6 June, that approved the Economic and Social Stabilization Programme, until 31 March 2021.

The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 41/2020 also:

  • enlarges the beneficiaries of the measure, including emigrants;
  • contemplates new eligibility factors related with loss of income, covering a larger number of people with temporary restrictions of liquidity;
  • extends the moratorium to all contracts of mortgage credit, and to consumption credit for education;
  • includes natural persons who benefited from privates moratoriums and who, as a result of the changes, become eligible for the public moratorium.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

31 July 2021

Law 50/2021 of 30 July extends bank moratoria, amending Decree-Law 10-J/2020 of 26 March, which establishes exceptional measures to protect the credits of families, companies, private social solidarity institutions and other entities of the social economy, as well as a special regime of personal guarantees of the State, within the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article 5-D, with the following wording, is added: the beneficiary entities will benefit from the additional extension of these measures from 1 October to 31 December 2021, exclusively with regard to the suspension of the reimbursement of capital.

01 January 2021

Decree-Law 107/2020 of 31 December makes the fifth amendment to Decree-Law 10 -J / 2020, of 26 March, amended by Law 8/2020, of 10 April, by Decree-Law 26/2020, of 16 June, by Law 27 -A / 2020, of 24 July, and by Decree-Law 78 -A / 2020, of 29 September, which establishes exceptional measures to protect the credits of families, companies, private institutions of social solidarity and other entities of the social economy, as well as a special regime of personal guarantees of the State, within the scope of the COVID-19 disease pandemic.

This decree-law comes into force on 1 January 2021 and is effective until 30 September 2021.

02 October 2020

The Decree-Law 78-A/2020, of 29 September, amends the Decree-Law 10-J/2020, of 26 March, notably in what concerns banking moratoriums. The exceptional measures to protect the credits of families, businesses and social economy organisations are extended for an additional period of six months, until 30 September 2021.

Article 3 of the Decree-Law 78-A/2020 establishes in particular that profit distribution, in any form, the reimbourserment of credits to the partners and the acquisition of shares or own quotas, by the beneficiary organisations, leads to the cessation of the foreseen exceptional measures.

Use of measure

Information not available.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Solo-self-employed
Other businesses
Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role No involvement as case not in social partner domain No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Not applicable.

Views and reactions

Not applicable.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Banking moratoriums, measure PT-2020-13/990 (measures in Portugal), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/PT-2020-13_990.html

Share

Eurofound publications based on EU PolicyWatch

30 January 2023

 

Measures to lessen the impact of the inflation and energy crisis on citizens

Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.

Article

12 September 2022

 

First responses to cushion the impact of inflation on citizens

Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Article

12 September 2022

 

Policies to support EU companies affected by the war in Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.

Article

5 July 2022

 

Policies to support refugees from Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.

Article

Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.