Caixa Geral de Depósitos is the subject of a commission of inquiry which meets tomorrow, July 5, but in an early move to reduce costs, the Government and union leaders already have met and agreed that 2,500 workers will go.
The restructuring plan, under new Caixa Geral boss António Domingues, will see many overseas branches wound up and 2,500 staff retiring or taking early retirement and not being replaced.
The 2,500 job cut is to take place from now until 2019 and the number can be altered taking into account that Domingues is now in charge and may accelerate the programmme.
The Secretary to the Treasury, Ricardo Mourinho Félix, met union leaders last Thursday and issued a joint statement today.
The job cuts, according to the Finance Minister Mario Centeno, mainly will occur in Spain, France and in Venezuela, with the bank staying on in Portuguese speaking African countries. Joint ventures will also be looked at.
There was no statement about the proposed capital injection for Caixa Geral with the Minister of Finance saying only that further negotiations are ongoing with the European Commission which has to assess whether the competition rules would be breached by the proposed €5 billion recapitalisation.
The statement indicated that the Government wants Caixa Geral to remain totally in State hands and the bank is to support more businesses, particularly SMEs, “while continuing to be the preferred savings bank for the Portuguese public.”
Comments
A problem known about for several years but brought sharply into focus following Brexit and speculators searching out weak links in the eurozone to play games with.
Throwing Portugal to the wolves would not keep Brussels awake at night but Italy is one of the founding fathers of the EC / EU. Yet, like its Latino cousins Portugal, has only ever been 'getting it all wrong'.