The horribly inconvenient truth that the ‘good bank’ is about to swallow another 2.5 billion euros of taxpayers money is laid out today by national paper Diário de Notícias.
For readers scratching their heads and thinking: “didn’t the politicians assure us taxpayers would not be paying a thing?” , the short answer is: ‘they lied’.
As critics always affirmed, Novo Banco is not only not a good bank, it will cost Portugal an arm and a leg and all the rest of the nation’s anatomy in between.
The new loan needed to keep the bank afloat will involve 1.149 billion euros this year, 600 million euros next year and 400 million euros in 2021.
Technically, the money will be paid by the Resolution Fund – but as this is ‘broke’, it will first need filling … with taxpayers’ money.
Explains negocios online, this is “after the 792 million euros that went into the financial institution last year, and the request for another billion euros made to the Resolution Fund this year”.
All this comes “in a period in which Novo Banco presented losses of 1.412 billion euros” and when multiple lawsuits from ‘big hitters’ are waiting in the wings.
But the ‘good news’ is that Finance Minister Mário Centeno claims Portugal will start enjoying budget surpluses from 2021 onwards.
Opposition parties don’t agree with him, but ‘this is an election year’ and PS Socialists need all the positive soundbites they can give themselves.
