Lisbon, Sept. 23, 2026 (Lusa) - The government maintains that support for young people buying their first home is not linked to the rise in house prices, an issue it discussed this week with the IMF, the finance minister said on Wednesday.
Miranda Sarmento was speaking during a parliamentary hearing following a motion tabled by Livre to question the Government on the sale of state-owned property suitable for housing, during which IL questioned him about the effects of support measures for young people.
Joaquim Miranda Sarmento was referring to the effects of the public guarantee granted by the state to young people up to the age of 35 on loans for the purchase of their first permanent home, and the exemption from IMT and stamp duty, after IL MP Angélique Da Teresa challenged him on the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) conclusions regarding the impact of the support measures on the market.
In a report on Portugal (under the so-called Article IV), published in June, the IMF recommended that the government reverse the support measures for young people to reduce imbalances in the property market and the risks associated with the financial sector.
The minister began by saying that the state guarantee, together with the two tax exemptions, aim to address a liquidity problem «for a section of the population that it is very important should remain in Portugal».
«Many of these young people would not have bought a home were it not for these two measures. Therefore, I do not believe there is a causal link between these measures and the rise in prices. There may or may not be one. No one can say for certain. The IMF itself does not claim this – it says it may have contributed», he replied.
The minister told MPs that, the day before, he had met with an IMF mission currently in Lisbon under Article IV and had the opportunity to discuss this matter with the Fund's experts.
«We discussed this at length. There is no evidence of a causal link,» he said, whilst noting that he does not rule out the possibility that this might be the case, but reaffirming that there is no evidence to support it.
The minister also said that the public guarantee has the political aim of ensuring that «young people up to the age of 35 can stay in Portugal» and, to that end, «one of the key factors is for them to have homes to live in».
According to the minister, this age group «may well have an income» sufficient to cover the mortgage burden required to make the repayments, but «has not yet had time to build up sufficient equity to address the liquidity problem», which the guarantee seeks to resolve.
The minister said he believes that, one day, «when there is a relatively long track record», there will be studies on the impact of this support.
After listening to the minister, Angélique Da Teresa said she would provide a slide from an IMF presentation which, she claims, identifies the public guarantee as one of the causes of rising house prices and presents calculations on the extent of the rise had this measure not been in place.
The minister said he was unaware of this IMF presentation. «I haven't seen it yet,» he admitted.
In its June report, the IMF said that public support measures, including public guarantees and tax exemptions, «aim to improve affordability, but have increased demand and exacerbated market imbalances», and «should be reversed».
Around 120,000 people bought a home with an exemption from the IMT and stamp duty, and around 40,000 used a public guarantee to purchase their home, the minister noted.
PCT/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
