Levels of Iberian post-Covid distress hard to assess

The levels of post-pandemic distress likely to be experienced in Iberia are difficult to quantify.

While unemployment is not as bad as might have been expected, until government support has been withdrawn and it is known whether money from Europe will go to the public or private sectors it will be hard to assess, said José Araujo, director specialised credit and real estate, Millennium BCP, Portugal’s largest private bank.

There may be more distressed assets among individuals, but there are different measures available for supporting them. There could also be more non-performing loans in 2022 but even if that is the case, Araujo said that banks are already preparing for it.

“We don’t want it to have a strong effect on our balance sheet so we have tried to find solutions already for some of our clients,” he told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts.

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.