Centeno leaves Banco de Portugal and retires

Friday, 13 March 2026RSS
Centeno leaves Banco de Portugal and retires
Photo: MIGUEL A. LOPES/LUSA

Centeno leaves the Banco de Portugal after 20 years and having reached an agreement on his departure. He is expected to dedicate himself to university teaching now.

Context & Explainers

Banco de Portugal is Portugal's central bank, founded in 1846. It is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem, working alongside the European Central Bank (ECB) to implement monetary policy in the euro area.

Its main functions include supervising banks and financial institutions, ensuring financial stability, managing Portugal's gold and foreign currency reserves, and producing economic research and statistics. It also operates the payment systems infrastructure and issues banknotes.

Banco de Portugal is led by a Governor — currently Mário Centeno (since 2020) — who also sits on the ECB's Governing Council. For residents, the central bank matters because it regulates the banks they use, sets macroprudential rules (such as mortgage lending limits), and provides a complaints mechanism for banking disputes.

View full article on observador.pt

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