President Marcelo fears yet another rise in interest rates

With yesterday’s flash estimate from Statistics Portugal pointing at the first increase in the country’s rate of inflation this year, President Marcelo has said that he fears yet another hike in interest rates by the European Central Bank – and what this will mean for Portuguese families, already struggling with mortgage repayments. “There are international signs that have already started to become a little worrying”, the country’s head of State told reporters yesterday – referring to levels of inflation in other European countries which are still “relatively high”. The ECB’s president Christine Lagarde has shown determination to bring down inflation to 2% by consistently increasing interest rates, no matter what the pain.