Portuguese banks withstand severe stress in FSAP assessment
Portugal's banks can withstand very severe adverse scenarios, Banco de Portugal Governor Álvaro Santos Pereira said in Lisbon on September 22, 2026. His remarks on the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) were published on October 13, 2026.
Twenty years of stronger defenses
Pereira said the International Monetary Fund's FSAP recognized stronger capital, liquidity, asset quality and operational resilience at Portuguese banks over the past decade.
Its stress tests found the banking system capable of withstanding very severe adverse scenarios.
Supervisory, macroprudential and resolution frameworks have also strengthened within Europe's institutional architecture.
The assessment comes approximately twenty years after Portugal's previous FSAP.
Since then, the system has navigated the global financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis and pandemic, alongside economic adjustment.
The Banking Union, stronger supervision and new crisis-management and resolution frameworks have reshaped its institutional setting.
Resilience beyond bank balance sheets
Pereira identified technological innovation, cyber threats, geopolitical uncertainty and climate vulnerabilities as evolving risks.
The Iberian power outage of April 2025 demonstrated the role of operational resilience and redundancy.
Digitalization, artificial intelligence and dependence on complex technological ecosystems create new channels for shocks.
Banco de Portugal is assessing the FSAP recommendations and pursuing follow-up with stakeholders.
Some reinforce work underway, including its recent revision of macroprudential borrower-based measures.
Stronger does not mean finished
Pereira's message is that resilience requires continued vigilance, adaptation and cooperation.
Borrower-based measures promote prudent lending and curb vulnerabilities from excessive debt.
Other recommendations may require legislative changes and cooperation with the Government and national and European authorities.