In an interview published by Diário Económico, the former chairman of Novo Banco said the bank’s future depended on “a political option”.
“But, from what we have seen, the sale would not be favourable as we are in a period of bank vulnerability”, he warned.
Vitor Bento stated that “all the banks have a market value that is lower than the book value, meaning that the market does not believe in the intrinsic value of the institutions, either in terms of assets or in terms of profitability”.
The former chairman of Novo Banco, who was appointed to the post after the separation of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) in 2014, refused, however, to give a “yes” or “no” to the question of nationalisation, alleging he did not have “enough information” to give “a simple answer”.
In the interview, Vitor Bento went on to say that “the problems of the BES victims should have been resolved already”, adding that when he left Novo Banco, “I was convinced that this would be resolved fairly quickly”.
The economist also said that the “level of austerity” with the current government, supported by the far-left parties in parliament is “the same as it would be with an alternative government”.