Latest news with #SergioGoncalves
Zawya
24-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Portugal swings to 0.2% budget surplus in first quarter
Portugal swung to a budget surplus of 0.2% of gross domestic product in the first quarter from a revised deficit of 0.4% a year ago, despite an economic contraction in the first three months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday. The National Statistics Institute (INE) said public revenues grew 7.8% year-on-year increase, while expenditure increased by 6.4%. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Andrei Khalip)
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Portugal tightens naturalisation rules, doubles residency requirement
By Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's centre-right minority government, under pressure from the far right to reduce immigration, said on Monday it would double to 10 years the amount of time most foreigners need to be legally resident in Portugal before applying for citizenship. Cabinet Minister Antonio Leitao Amaro said other immigration rules, such as those governing the issuance of residence permits for families of legal immigrants, would also be tightened, and there would be a provision stripping naturalised Portuguese who commit serious crimes of their citizenship. The Iberian country of around 10.5 million people has experienced a significant increase in immigration in recent years and the tightening of requirements to obtain Portuguese citizenship was a central theme in last month's election, in which the far-right Chega became the main opposition party. The decree is yet to be sent to parliament, but it is expected to be approved with Chega's support. "We are significantly strengthening the requirements for access to citizenship, naturalisation, in line with the guidelines we were already included in the government's program," Leitao Amaro told reporters. He said that the 10-year period will apply to most foreigners, but immigrants from Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil, Angola or Mozambique will have a 7-year period. Under existing rules, aside from the five years of residency, foreign citizens must demonstrate sufficient knowledge of Portuguese, no previous sentences of more than three years in prison and must not constitute a threat to national security. Portugal will now require that they also show familiarity with Portuguese culture, the rights and duties of citizens, declare support for the fundamental principles of a democratic state, and have not served any effective prison sentence. According to economic data aggregator Pordata, in 2023, the last year for which final data is available, 141,300 foreigners were naturalized, 20% less than in 2022. The government said in January that more than 400,000 applications were being processed. The migration and asylum agency AIMA estimates that more than 1.5 million foreign citizens were legally residing in Portugal as of the end of 2024. Brazilians are the largest group, with over 450,000 legal immigrants.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Novo Banco's shareholders change bylaws for possible IPO, sources say
By Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) -Shareholders of Portugal's Novo Banco on Wednesday approved key changes to its bylaws that would allow the lender to go ahead with a public listing, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. The statutory change approved at a general meeting of shareholders would only become effective if an initial public offering (IPO) goes ahead, one source said. Two other sources confirmed the approval of the changes. Novo Banco, which is Portugal's fourth-largest bank and is 75%-owned by U.S. private equity fund Lone Star, in February began preparations for an IPO, but a full sale has not been ruled out. The first source said the so-called dual track process, in which sellers typically seek to build competitive tension between an IPO and a full sale to achieve the best price, remains on the table. CEO Mark Bourke has long advocated for an IPO, which would keep the lender independent, and said a month ago that it was targeting either June or September, depending on the markets and the final go-ahead from shareholders. Novo Banco was created in 2014 from the collapsed BES after a state bailout, with Lone Star buying its stake in 2017. The resolution fund, which is financed by Portugal's banks, holds 13.54% and the Portuguese state holds the remaining 11.46%. Novo Banco, Lone Star, the resolution fund and the finance ministry, which manages the state's stake, declined to comment. Sources told Reuters in September that Novo Banco could be worth about 5 billion euros ($5.69 billion) after it completed a turnaround, which involved focusing solely on Portugal and becoming profitable. ($1 = 0.8787 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tired of elections, Portuguese just want a stable government
By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira MARINHA GRANDE, Portugal (Reuters) - For many Portuguese, the hope for Sunday's general election is pretty simple: a government that can navigate the challenges thrown up by global trade tensions and other geopolitics, and an end to the non-stop cycle of polls every year. But for sceptical residents of Marinha Grande, a working-class town of 40,000 in central Portugal and a hub for the injection moulding industry, even that seems like wishful thinking. The vote is the third general election in as many years and comes after a 10-year period of fragile governments, only one of which has had a parliamentary majority but which still collapsed halfway through its term last year. Luis Simoes, a 36-year-old moulding plant worker, was among those worried that no lasting government would emerge on Sunday, leaving much-needed stability hinging on fragile deals between parties. That, at a time of global trade tensions triggered by Donald Trump's tariff blitz, and a high domestic tax burden. "If they (parties) don't reach an understanding up there at the top of the pyramid, we will suffer here," he told Reuters at the Iberomoldes plant filled with the hum of precision machines. The impact of new U.S. tariffs on imports - including from the EU - has barely featured in the election campaign, however, even as Portugal's net exports already felt the pinch in the first quarter and the economy shrank from the previous three months, setting off alarm bells at Marinha Grande's big exporters. Portugal's moulding industry is Europe's third-largest after Germany and Switzerland, selling almost 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) a year mostly to other European countries. Its moulds are used to make plastic toys, cars and aircraft cabin panels. Iberomoldes President Joaquim Menezes, whose company exports 90% of its output, said he feared trade tensions may affect his big European clients and subsequently his company, while any further political instability at home would only compound such risks and "surely affect our productivity". NO MAJORITY IN SIGHT Opinion polls show the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro garnering the most votes but no parliamentary majority, a similar outcome to the previous ballot in March 2024. There's also little change for its perennial rival, the centre-left Socialist Party (PS), which is hard on its heels. Marinha Grande has traditionally voted for the PS but in last year's election many turned to the far-right Chega party, which won 20.5% of the vote in the region, up from 7% in 2023. The PS won 29.8%, well below the 43.5% it won the year before in the region. At a national level, Chega has been polling steady to lower since quadrupling its parliamentary representation last year. Its anti-establishment, anti-immigration rhetoric is seen as too toxic for it to serve as kingmaker to any party. No party has come up with fresh proposals to generate much enthusiasm among the Portuguese or address their concerns. "Each party is just saying they are the serious ones and the others are unethical or corrupt," said Samuel Silva, an office administrative assistant in Lisbon. "Europe's economic woes will reach Portugal sooner or later, but I don't see any of the major parties talking about it, it doesn't bring votes." Much of the campaign has centred around ethical matters such as the business dealings of Montenegro's family consulting firm. The issue brought down his government in March but failed to resonate with voters - who still largely consider him the better man for the job, according to opinion surveys. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing. VOTER FATIGUE "People really don't care that much about the issue. They are fed up," said political science professor Jose Tomaz Castello Branco of Lisbon's Catholic University, citing voter fatigue after so many elections. "There is not that much hope that the future will be different to the present," he added. The only potential for some stability appears to lie with the fourth-placed, pro-business Liberal Initiative party, which could garner enough votes to form a majority ruling coalition with Montenegro's AD, with which it has some affinities. There could be a prolonged legislative paralysis before yet another election, Castello Branco said. No new general election can be called until at least mid-2026 because Portugal will hold a presidential election next January. "If you are an optimist, you will hope for the parties to come together the day after the election to form an alliance to rule the country for at least the coming year," he said. Retired metalworker Luis Esperanca, 58, held out little such hope. He was angry with what he said was politicians' reluctance to compromise for the good of the country and criticised a disappointing campaign dominated by "very weak ideas for the future". "They think they don't need to explain anything to anyone, as if everyone were idiots," he said. "This cannot continue." (Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Frances Kerry)
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Start Campus plans to invest $9.35 billion in Portugal data hub
By Sergio Goncalves SINES, Portugal (Reuters) - U.S. investment fund Davidson Kempner and Britain's Pioneer Point Partners plan to invest 8.5 billion euros ($9.35 billion) by 2030 in a data centre hub in Portugal to serve a growing demand from major tech and artificial intelligence companies. They said on Friday their joint project, Start Campus, in the city of Sines, 150 km (93 miles) south of Lisbon, already has one of the planned six buildings in operation. Investments in data centres, which help provide computing power for AI, have surged since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, as companies across sectors increasingly shift their operations to the cloud and integrate AI into their offerings. Portugal's caretaker Economy Minister Pedro Reis said the project is a "structuring investment for the Portuguese economy, which helps to place Portugal in a strategic position in the data economy, taking advantage of Sines' privileged geographical location". ($1 = 0.9087 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
