2023-08-22 12:23:12
The Chamber of Labor (AK) and the SPÖ are taking domestic credit institutions to task with a view to the wide interest rate gap. The AK demands that the banks should support borrowers who have come under pressure as a result of the sharp rise in interest rates. The SPÖ locates a market failure and advocates minimum interest rates on savings deposits. The financial institutions themselves recently indicated a concession, at least for the borrowers.
“We’re very excited to see how they’ll do what they’re going to offer, we’ll keep an eye on it,” said Gabriele Zgubic from AK consumer policy in “Ö1-Morgenjournal” while waiting. “There is the possibility of extending the term, then the monthly loan installments are lower. You can limit the hours, you can see if there is a switch to a fixed interest rate.” Finding solutions here is in the banks’ own interests, according to Zgubic.
The class action platform COBIN claims denounced the banks’ advice on variable-interest loans and called for a “moratorium on Swiss franc loans”. The club plans to present details at a press conference on Wednesday. The money houses, on the other hand, are protected by Christoph Kirchmair, founder of the credit consulting company Infina, in an interview with the “Ö1-Mittagsjournal”. He sees no careless behavior by the banks. No one in the industry saw the sudden rise in inflation and interest rates coming. The long period of low interest rates since the financial crisis in 2008 is also the reason why the majority of loans in Austria have been granted on a variable basis.
In the Ö1 interview, Innsbruck university professor Matthias Bank sees another possible explanation for the low proportion of fixed-interest loans in Austria in the relatively low fines that are due if you repay a fixed-interest loan early in this country. This makes this type of loan unattractive for the banks. In Germany, where the penalties are much higher, fixed-interest loans play a much more important role.
In order to combat high inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) had gradually raised the reference interest rates since mid-2022. Many people who took on variable-rate debt were caught off guard. In order to help these customers, the banks would accommodate them, announced the chairman of the banking division in the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) and Erste Group boss Willibald Cernko last week. He wants to reveal details in the coming days – it may be tomorrow: After talks with Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP), Cernko wants to appear before the press tomorrow.
Not only interest rates that are too high are denounced, but also that they are too low: namely on the savers’ side. “Interest rates on loans and overdrafts are exploding, while interest on savings remains almost unchanged,” criticized SPÖ finance spokesman Jan Krainer in a broadcast and called for a statutory minimum interest rate on savings deposits. That is “neither left nor right, that’s reasonable”.
With a view to a much-discussed excess profit tax on bank profits that is being considered in Italy, Krainer is disappointed by the right-wing government in Rome: “Instead of the announced skimming off of excess profits, according to media reports, the government is more likely to take a cuddling course with the banks. “
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