In addition, households own more than $ trillion in real estate assets, almost twice the amount they own in mutual funds and directly hold in stocks. Over the past two years, significant increases in the value of real estate assets have, for some households, mitigated stock market losses and supported consumption.
As a result of these initiatives promoted by Banco de Portugal, a serious situation was identified in the ESI’s individual accounts at the end of November 2013, caused by an unusual and extremely significant increase in its financial liabilities. Banco de Portugal thus requested ESI to prepare proforma consolidated accounts immediately with reference to 30 September 2013, accompanied by an external auditor’s opinion.