The measure, announced the day before and contained in Decree 116/2025, is considered as a previous step towards the privatization of this entity, a process announced by the President at the beginning of his administration, but suspended during negotiations for the approval of the Basic Law. Entirely state-owned, the BNA was founded in 1891, in a few years it became the largest local institution of its kind and currently has more than 700 branches.

The BNA has the best profitability figures in the financial system, concentrates the largest number of customers, deposits, loans and assistance to both companies and individuals, and is the largest in the country, the union said in a statement.

These figures were achieved by being public and state-owned, without neglecting its social function and supporting the development of industry, the countryside, small and medium-sized companies and citizens in general. It is contradictory to want to sell what works, unless the only objective is a spurious negotiation and a new swindle, it adds.

Likewise, the Bank recalled that in 2024 more than one million signatures were collected against such an action and a demonstration was held in front of Congress, among other initiatives.

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