The aid package planned in the summer for potential young real estate borrowers is not coming after all. It is not possible for “many reasons”, including the “narrow limits” of competition law. Willibald Cernko, Erste Group boss and chairman of the banking division in the Chamber of Commerce, said this on Wednesday in the Ö1 morning journal.
At a press conference with Finance Minister Magnus Brunner at the end of August, Cernko promised a one-off aid pot in the double or triple-digit million range. In view of the increased interest rates and the stricter lending guidelines (KIM regulation), the money should have primarily benefited young families.
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The claim
Instead, according to the banking industry, there are individual offers for young borrowers. Sven Hergovich, chairman of the SPÖ Lower Austria, criticized Cernko’s “excuses” and called for “part of the billions in excess profits to be returned to customers.” The KIM regulation, which came into force in August 2022, wants to leave supervision in place.
Conversion of the loan?
Discussions were sparked yesterday by the Green Parliamentary Club’s proposal to allow private borrowers to retroactively convert a variable-interest real estate loan into a fixed interest rate. This is not an issue for the ÖVP, even if help needs to be discussed, said club boss August Wöginger.
The banks are warning against quick decisions, the industrial association calls the proposal “unacceptable”. Retroactive interventions in existing contracts undermined the “foundations of the rule of law”.
