The Portuguese caught in the spiral of debt
On Thursday morning, Veronica has resigned to go through the door of Deco, the charity for families in debt. "To keep a little dignity and do not lose your head," the young woman slips, looking weary. At age 41, mother of a boy of 7 years, Veronica is unemployed, as her husband who had to close its microenterprise. Riddled with debt, the couple has any income to EUR 400 for unemployment benefits, for 2500 euros in charges refund! They have no less than ten credits on the arms: property, auto, personal, card purchase … not to mention the liability of the company, social security arrears and income tax. Today, Veronica sees no alternative but to initiate insolvency proceedings. "To start over, she hopes.All our goods will be confiscated, it will be under supervision of a director for five years, but then finished the debts, they will be erased. "
A little behind, hidden behind thick glasses, square Pedro feverishly bothers her phone number. If using Deco is an attempt to renegotiate two loans: a consumer loan of 8500 euros contracted with Cofidis and a mortgage of 15,000 euros to the Central Fund deposits that could not pay despite the sale of his house in August 2010."I look forward to rescheduling or pay only the interest, time to recover."
The difficulties for this young professor began after the dismissal of his wife in 2009 and in January he has lost 200 euros from his salary, the first result of government austerity measures, so that today his income does not exceed 1,500 euros, to pay a rent of 650 euros, ongoing expenses and academic studies of her two children. "We can not do it. It has sought help from family, but it's hard for everyone, the quadra confesses. For the first time in my life, I went to the food bank. "
Examples such as Pedro or Veronica, the association received more than twenty per day, not counting the numerous letters bad credit unsecured personal loans.They are between 30 and 45, they are engineers, professors, lawyers, employees … a simple high school education or higher, an average income of 1,500 euros, an average of five credits in their passive but often much more. In 2010, Deco has received 17,372 applications, twice more than in 2008, owing much to job loss.
Cumulative effect
Natalia Nunes, head of the division of debt, also denounced the irresponsibility of financial institutions, which for years have opened the floodgates of credit, facilitated by attractive interest rates, but also households who, " lack of financial education, have left illusions. "The illusion with the entry into the European Union is to have grown to become a rich country. Credit is very recent in Portugal, it dates from 1990.It was a real revolution in a country of culture rather closed, "says Natalia.
Result, in 2009, according to the Bank of Portugal, the rate of household debt amounted to more than 130% of their disposable income. And for Natalia, for sure, the problem will intensify in the coming months with the recession and the restrictive measures imposed by the IMF-EU agreement. "There will be a cumulative effect between the abolition of tax relief, cuts in welfare, freezes wages and pensions, rising prices and interest rates," explains the manager. Ironically, this makes the success of collection companies. "It would create a weekly basis. They are there to exert psychological pressure, they even go to the neighbors, "denounces Natalia. On the mode of cobrador do fraque (collector habit), a local tradition in which the collector, dressed in black coat, says his victim …