Bank profits in Portugal soared 50% last year to €2.97 billion. This result was achieved thanks to the increase in net interest income, the difference between interest charged on loans and interest paid on deposits, explains the supervisor led by Mário Centeno, who updated this Wednesday the long series of the Portuguese banking sector.

It was the fifth year in a row that the sector recorded positive results and follows the most negative period of banking in Portugal between 2011 and 2017, in which it accumulated losses of 13.7 billion euros and saw the fall of two institutions (BES and Banif). Since then, banks have improved and accumulated profits of €8.3 billion.

In 2022, results accelerated due to the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate hike, which enabled banks to increase net interest income by €1.38 billion to €7.5 billion, the highest since 2011.