Portugal

Portugal plans first issue of public debt of 2017

11 January 2017

Portugal's state debt agency, IGCP has hired banks Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria (BBVA), HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Novo Banco and Societe Generale to carry out the first issue of 10-year bonds in 2017, reported financial news agency Bloomberg. The Portuguese Treasury expects to raise 3 billion euros with this syndicated issue, and financial daily newspaper Jornal de Negocios said the yield n the issue is expected to be around 4.25%.

BCP increases capital and Chinese group Fosun wants a 30% stake

10 January 2017

The board of Portuguese private bank of Banco Comercial Portuguese (BCP) approved a capital increase of 1.3 billion euros, which will be used to repay 750 million euros in outstanding state loans and to strengthen equity, the bank said in press release issued on Monday.

Economist Echo Chan returns to Macau Forum as Deputy Secretary-General

9 January 2017

Economist Echo Chan Keng Hong was appointed, to represent the Macau Government, as the Deputy Secretary-General to the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, according to an official statement issued by the Government Information Bureau.

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries falls 8.44% from January to November

9 January 2017

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries registered a year on year fall of 8.44% in the period from January to November, at US$83.230 billion, according to Chinese official figures released by the Macau Forum.

Angola’s Unitel takes control of Banco de Fomento Angola

6 January 2017

Angolan mobile telecommunications company Unitel on Thursday concluded the purchase of 2% of the Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) bank from Portuguese bank BPI, and now controls 51.9% of the Angolan fina…

Mozambique company census results published in January

6 January 2017

The results of the Mozambican Company Census, a statistical operation carried out between 2015 and 2016, will be released this January, reported the National Statistics Institute of Mozambique. "The Census of Companies is a statistical operation that aims to collect data on the structure and territorial location of economic and social infrastructure to gain a better understanding of the universality of its activities," said the statement released by the Business and Company Statistics Department (DESE) of the Mozambican National Statistics Institute.

Yield on 10-year Portuguese public debt exceeds 4.0%

6 January 2017

The yield on Portugal's public debt on Thursday rose to over 4.0%, the highest since February 2016 and the ceiling set by the DBRS agency to stop the debt being rated as "junk," according to data released by financial news agency Bloomberg. The agency wrote that the yield on 10-year Treasury Bonds traded on the secondary debt market reached 4.014%, thus exceeding the limit set by DBRS that allows the European Central Bank to continue to buy Portuguese government debt.

Bank of Portugal chooses Lone Star fund to buy Novo Banco

6 January 2017

The Lone Star investment fund is the best positioned candidate to buy Portuguese bank Novo Banco and will move to the next phase of negotiations, the last stage of the sale process of the bank that inherited the quality assets of the bankrupt Banco Espírito Santo, the Bank of Portugal said. In this second attempt to sell, investors from the Apollo/Centerbridge consortium have not be completely set aside, but they will only have a chance to buy Novo Banco if negotiations with Lone Star fail.

Portuguese group Mota-Engil awarded another project in Angola

5 January 2017

The Angolan subsidiary of Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil has been awarded a project worth 178 million euros to repair one of the main roads in Luanda province, according to a presidential order. The work awarded to Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção África to repair the Via Expressa/Camama/Avenida Pedro de Castro Van-Dunem Loy road includes micro and macro-drainage works, as well as building a roundabout.

Bank of Portugal announces winner of tender to buy Novo Banco

4 January 2017

The Bank of Portugal is due on Wednesday to announce the winner, if any, of the tender to buy Novo Banco, the bank that inherited the healthy assets of the bankrupt Banco Espírito Santo, according to the Portuguese press. Financial daily Jornal de Negocios reported that China Minsheng Investment had lost out for not submitting the necessary guarantees in due time, and Novo Banco is now being disputed by the Apollo/Centerbridge consortium and US fund Lone Star.

Mozambique exceeds tax collection target in 2016

3 January 2017

The Mozambique Tax Authority (AT) raised 173 billion meticais (US$2.395 billion) in taxes in 2016, more than the 165 billion patacas it expected, said the president of the institution, cited by the Mozambican press. Amelia Nakhare stressed that tax revenues have exceeded the initially planned amount, "in another year marked by business closures and a deep economic and financial crisis."

Exhibition of food from Portuguese-speaking countries open for another six months

30 December 2016

The Special Exhibition of Food Products from Portuguese Speaking Countries will remain open until 30 June, 2017 in order to allow more people and traders to get to know those products, said the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the exhibition's organiser. The Special Exhibition of Food Products from Portuguese Speaking Countries includes a variety of wines, canned foods, processed foods, spices, coffee, tea, milk, juices and other food products especially selected from Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Timor-Leste (East Timor).

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries reaches US$75 billion from January to October

28 December 2016

Trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries in the first 10 months of 2016 amounted to US$75.491 billion, or a year on year fall of 10.32%, according to official Chinese figures released by the Macau Forum.

Airline from Azores to begin flights to Cabo Verde in 2017

23 December 2016

Azores Airlines, a subsidiary of Portugal’s SATA group, will begin flying connections to Cabo Verde and Barcelona in the 2017 IATA summer season (April to October), the group’s CEO Paulo Menezes announced. The operation will use company aircraft, similar to what was done in the summer of 2016, Menezes said while presenting the summer 2017 operational plan along with new Azores Airline products.

Portugal’s Galp Energia group approves investment in Mozambique

22 December 2016

Portugal’s Galp Energia group has approved the plan for investment in the Coral South project in area 4 of Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, indicates a statement released by the Securities Market Commission. The approval is “a significant step toward making the final decision on investment in the project, which besides requiring conclusion and signing of all associated documents also depends on the project’s approval by the other consortium partners, completion of the project’s financing and approval of conditions concerning financing of the respective stake of Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) on behalf of the Mozambican government.”

Privatisation process of Cabo Verde’s shipyards far from completion

19 December 2016

The sale of Cape Verdean shipyard company Cabnave is far from being completed, wrote Cape Verdean newspaper Expresso das Ilhas, which noted that Portuguese group ETE had made the best financial offer for the company's privatisation tender. The Portuguese group recently announced it had qualified "first in the international public tender for the privatisation of Cabnave, shipyards on the island of Sao Vicente in Cabo Verde, and the next step is financial negotiations and the final terms of the 30-year concession contract."

Governments of Cabo Verde and Portugal meet at summit in February 2017

19 December 2016

The fourth summit of heads of government of Portugal and Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) takes place on 20 February in Praia announced last week the Cape Verdean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luís Filipe Tavares. The minister, who was speaking to journalists in the capital, said that the documents for the summit, during which the 2016-2020 Strategic Cooperation Programme will be signed "are finalised."

Mozambique and Portugal study closer relations in the agro-industrial sector

13 December 2016

Officials from Mozambique and Portugal met in Maputo to study ways to encourage partnerships between entrepreneurs from the two countries in the agro-industrial sector. They attended a meeting organised by the Portuguese Embassy of Portugal along with Mozambican leaders and Portuguese staff from Portugal's Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) and the Mozambique-Portugal Chamber of Commerce, according to the press.

Macau wants more cooperation to enhance its role as a platform between Portugal and China

12 December 2016

The Macau Secretary for the Economy and Finance, Leong Vai Tac, said on Sunday that Macau wants to strengthen its economic relations with Portugal to enhance the role of the territory as a platform for relations between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. During a recent visit to Portugal, Leong Vai Tac met with the Secretaries of State for Industry, Commerce, Environmental Protection, Energy and Internationalisation,with whom he discussed how to put into practice broader cooperation using the mechanisms created to boost relations between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.

Chinese ambassador Cai Run calls for boost to business cooperation with Portugal

9 December 2016

The Chinese ambassador to Portugal, Cai Run, wants cooperation between Portuguese companies and Chinese investors in various areas of economic activity such as traditional Chinese medicine, tourism and education, among others, according to statements made in Lisbon.

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