The banks consider that the measure announced on Wednesday by Pedro Sánchez to extend the maximum income from 29,400 to 38,000 euros to qualify for aid to those mortgaged in trouble is “premature” and “unnecessary”, but also “affordable”, therefore that are open to negotiating it with the Government, according to the associations and entities in the sector consulted.
Sources from the Ministry of Economic Affairs indicate that the intention of its head, Nadia Calviño, is to call a meeting with the bank as soon as a government is formed. As agreed, the implementation of the code of good practices must be addressed by a commission in which the Government, the Bank of Spain and the entities participate.
The banks argue that the code is not having much use and that expanding the maximum income “does not mean that there will be an avalanche of clients who join.” The potential beneficiaries are of higher quality and a good part of them would not have to be reclassified as stage 2, that is, as a doubtful loan, which is what banks fear most, by forcing them to assume additional provisions.
The thesis of the entities is that clients are responding to their debts thanks to the good moment of employment and that for the moment it is not necessary to expand the code. Furthermore, they indicate that more mortgage renegotiations are carried out outside the code than within it.
According to the Bank of Spain, 42,800 mortgage holders with a joint debt of 5,367 million euros, at an average of 125,400 euros, have requested help, but half of the cases have been rejected for not meeting the requirements and only 10% has ended up materializing.
In September, there were renegotiations for 352 million euros, most of them outside the code of good practices. Although delinquencies are low and barely around 3.5%, the pace of refinancing is much higher than last year's monthly average of 158 million.
“The current code was designed as a preventive measure in the face of an adverse economic scenario,” but “the evolution of the economy has been more favorable, thanks, above all, to the labor market,” so it is “premature” to reform the code, says the association of former CECA savings banks.
For the banks, the main point of conflict with the Government is the new tax on the sector, which they have appealed in court.
Sánchez's announcement, which involves extending the loan repayment period by seven years and applying a one-year grace period on interest, comes days after the Secretary of State for the Economy, Gonzalo García Andrés, asked the banks to " "extreme vigilance" in the processes of granting aid to mortgage holders in trouble.
