The reference rate for the first half of 2026 rose from 2.563% to 2.623%, reflecting the trajectory of the six-month Euribor rate, according to a notice signed by the Director-General of the Treasury and Finance Entity, José Passos, and published in the Diário da República.

“The reference rate for calculating the bonuses (TRCB) to be in effect between January 1st and June 30th, 2026 is 2.623%,” says the decree. This value is slightly higher than the previous semester, which was 2.563%, but far below the 3.175% that was in effect in the first six months of 2025. In practice, the TRCB is a “discount” applied to the market interest rate associated with bank loans that benefit from this scheme.

Since January 2024, this discount has been decreasing. In the first half of last year, it was 4.504%, but in 2023, the rate was only 2.906%.

The TRCB (Reference Rate for Basic Credit) is defined semi-annually by the General Directorate of the Treasury and Finance, now the Treasury and Finance Entity, which absorbed that body, and is based on the six-month Euribor on the first business day of the month prior to the start of the semester, plus a spread of 50 basis points.

Subsidized loans for the purchase of a primary and permanent home or for conservation or improvement works on the property apply to people with disabilities with a degree of incapacity greater than 60%. Since 2002, banks have not been obliged to grant loans under this regime. However, it is possible to request conversion later.

The change from the general regime to the subsidized credit regime is only carried out up to a maximum value of €190,000, a value that has been updated, since 2015, based on the inflation rate and provided that the ratio between the outstanding capital and the value of the property does not exceed 90%.