Dublin: Mortgage holders struggling with rising interest rates may not have a helping hand from the government. This possibility was ruled out when Prime Minister Leo Varadkar rejected a proposal to provide borrowers with temporary mortgage interest relief.
For the eighth time, the European Central Bank has raised interest rates. The average two-year fixed-rate mortgage rate is now just under 6%. The government was expected to step in as a result. Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin stated that the government will look into how it can help households affected by interest rate hikes in the budget. This possibility was ruled out by the Prime Minister.
According to Varadkar, giving interest concessions is a very complicated issue. The Prime Minister clarified that these concessions cannot be given as temporary. For a long time, interest rates have been low. It’s currently rebalancing between 3% and 5%.
The Prime Minister said that the ECB raised rates to restore price stability. People will benefit, including mortgagees. Varadkar said that those who are now facing the consequences of increased interest rates have had low interest rates for a long time.
Sinn Féin came out strongly, criticising this position of the government. Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty accused the government of remaining silent despite repeated ECB mortgage interest rate hikes. The spokesperson said that the government’s head is buried in the ground.
He stated that the government’s decision to include the issue in the budget is incorrect. Mortgage holders and others are in deep trouble. They are unable to afford the increased monthly payments as a result of the interest rate increase. The ECB has stated that it will raise interest rates even further. In this context, government intervention is essential, the spokesman demanded.
Interest rates are rising like lightning.
The ECB’s decision to raise interest rates again as part of the Eurozone’s economic control measures has been heavily criticised.
Eurozone lending interest rates have reached a 22-year high of 3.5%. The bank is giving an indication that this is not over.
The ECB’s president, Christine Lagarde, stated that raising interest rates is part of controlling inflation, and the bank raised rates by.25 basis points for the eighth time in a row.
Wage increases and price increases, according to Lagarde, were the primary causes of inflation. For months, the eurozone’s inflation rate has been stable at 6.1%. However, the ECB believes it should be further regulated.
Tracker customers will also be affected by the ECB rate hike, as their mortgage rates will increase by 0.25 percentage points.
If there is a balance of €1,00,000 on the tracker, the repayments will increase by €12–13 per month. If there is a balance of €200,000, the repayments will increase by more than €25. Due to the interest hike since last July, Tracker customers are paying hundreds of euros extra every month, she pointed out.
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