2023-08-23 20:01:05
Innsbruck (OTS) – The huge rise in interest rates is causing more and more borrowers trouble, while the banks are reaping huge profits. But they don’t want to contribute anything to solving the problems that they are partly to blame for.
So now there is a package of measures to help borrowers in need. Apart from the fact that the announced waiver of reminder fees and interest on arrears is nothing more than eyewash – in truth this has always been everyday practice in this area – it also conceals the fact that the banks have been financing long-term real estate loans with cheap money from the European Central Bank like there was no tomorrow, and made very good money doing it. Of course, this is not “bad” per se, but many of these loans were granted under conditions that even alarmed the European banking supervisory authority and ultimately resulted in the tightening of the lending rules. And now, in view of the fact that the ceiling has not yet been reached as a result of the interest rate hikes, the question arises as to how these borrowers can cope with the extremely high and certainly still increasing interest burden. The banks have now also brought possible term extensions into play. Although this may help to avoid the loss of the loan-financed home, it also means that the total amount that the borrower has to pay for his dream home is significantly larger. Recently, bank representatives have repeatedly pointed out the personal responsibility of borrowers in view of the sharp criticism. It was the banks that advised their customers to use variable interest rates and – even worse – foreign currency loans in the “cheap years”. Even if that is vehemently denied today. It is obvious that the banks also underestimated a possible turnaround in interest rates in Austria.
The way out of the dilemma is a matter of controversy and the solution is certainly not easy. But the banks shouldn’t shirk their responsibilities. The perfidy in the current situation is that the banks cannot lose at all. Because on the one hand they are currently making enormous profits with their high-interest deposits at the European Central Bank and on the other hand “Father State” is once once more ready to rescue them. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner announced, among other things, that short-term government bonds with a fixed interest rate of 3.66 percent would be issued for savers – because the banks are only very hesitant to pass on the increased interest rates to them in contrast to the interest rates on loans. It’s just that the finance minister doesn’t pay for this out of his wallet, but the taxpayers – the financial crisis of 2009 sends its greetings.
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