New data on the number of Portuguese families facing bankruptcy has shown that there is “good” and bad news.
The “good news” is that the number of families going bankrupt has dropped 9% so far compared to the same period last year. But the bad news continues to be that numbers are still twice as high as those registered when the coalition government came to power.
The situation is reported by online newspaper Dinheiro Vivo, citing data from Instituto do Informador Comercial, a company specialising in commercial credit management.
Bankruptcy situations are worse in Porto, where most families have gone bankrupt this year (1,843), followed by Lisbon (1,212) and Setúbal (575).
Still, the number of bankruptcies in Porto dropped by an impressive 306%, says the data.
Lawyer Ricardo Felgueiras told DV that the drops are directly linked to the government’s revitalisation programme, Processo Especial de Revitalização (PER), launched in 2012.
Natália Nunes from consumer watchdog DECO agrees.
“Lately, many people have been using PER as an alternative to filing for bankruptcy. When the programme works, it allows families to recover without the stigma of going bankrupt,” she explained.
The bottom line figure for private bankruptcies this year was 6,419.
