The Euribor interest rate fell this Tuesday for three, six and 12 months compared to Thursday, after the March average remained unchanged in the shorter term, retreated in the intermediate term and rose in the longer term.
With today’s changes, the three-month Euribor, which fell to 3.883%, remained above the six-month rate (3.842%) and the 12-month rate (3.664%).
The six-month Euribor rate, which became the most used in Portugal in housing loans with variable rates – and which was above 4% between September 14th and December 1st –, dropped this Tuesday to 3.842%, 0.009 percentage points less than on Thursday. The last maximum since November 2008 was recorded on October 18, at 4.143%.
According to data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP) for January, the six-month Euribor represented 36.4% of the stock of loans for permanent home ownership with variable rates. The same data indicate that the 12- and three-month Euribor represented 35.7% and 24.4%, respectively.
Within 12 months, the Euribor rate – which was above 4% between June 16th and November 29th – also fell today, to 3.664%, 0.005 percentage points less than in the previous session. The highest value since November 2008, 4.228%, was dated September 29th.
In the same sense, the three-month Euribor fell, being set at 3.883%, minus 0.009 percentage points, after having risen on October 19th to 4.002%, a new maximum since November 2008.
In relation to the Euribor average in March, it remained at 3.923% for three months, fell 0.006 points, to 3.895%, for six months (compared to 3.901% in February) and rose 0.047 percentage points, to 3.718%, for 12 months (against 3.671%).
At the last monetary policy meeting, on March 7, the European Central Bank (ECB) maintained reference interest rates for the fourth consecutive meeting, after ten increases since July 21, 2022.
The ECB’s next monetary policy meeting will take place on April 11, in Frankfurt, the German city where the central bank’s headquarters are located.
Euribor began to rise more significantly on February 4, 2022, after the ECB admitted that it could raise key interest rates due to the increase in inflation in the euro zone. A trend that was reinforced with the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
