A total saving of €1.9 billion was presented on Tuesday by the president of the IGCP, the Agência de Gestão da Tesouraria e da Dívida Pública which manages Portugal’s national debt and bond issues.
Cristina Casalinho informed Parliament that they next step is to pay off other loans early.
Of the €78 billion granted to Portugal for its financial rescue, €26.3 billion came from the IMF.
Taking advantage of the improvements in market conditions since 2017, Portugal started to pay off the IMF debt and cleared it at the end of last year, 2018.
Finance Minister, Mario Centeno, already has stated that he intends to start paying off a whopping €51.6 billion in debt to European lenders.
Cristina Casalinho did not give a date for this ambitious plan but confirmed that the intent is to take advantage of lower interest rates, to issue bonds and to pay off expensive borrowings.
"2018 was marked by a marked improvement in funding conditions. The cost of financing fell from 2.6% to 1.8% in 2018 and currently stands at 1.5%," said the debt manager.
In the secondary market, the decline is even more noticeable. Portugal's 10-year debt traded below 0.40% on Tuesday.
Cristina Casalinho pointed to Portugal's reduced refinancing risk (achieved by early repayment to the IMF) as a key factor, coupled with the improvement of the country’s rating by major agencies since the end of 2017.
One factor that has supported Eurozone countries, including Portugal, is the monetary policy of the European Central Bank, which maintains interest rates at historical lows and the current asset purchase programme.
Comments
By the way, I'm only agreeing with you so you can tell me what that sparking wine from Serra Estrela is
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AL,
This country produces some of the most amazing wine's in Europe, but they may not be marketed property internationally, and as a result prodiction is limited to to the local market.
However, regarding "Sparkling wine" ... as l have secured a few box's of the sparkling nectar, l can reveal the name of it ..... the brand name is Tazem (Dao region), Seco if you palate is dry or Bruto if your palate is sweet. Enjoy !
Absolutely right about that. Portugal like many countries in Europe at the moment have idiots for governors that only care about ratings and votes and of course a high paid salary.
Allow business men to be in charge of these trade deals instead of high paid lawyers.
By the way, I'm only agreeing with you so you can tell me what that sparking wine from Serra Estrela is
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Portugal has some fantastic commodities that are, just not being utilised.
For example (wine production), I see small to medium size vineyards overgrown with weeds here in Algarve. When l visit Northern Europe I notice that there is no Portugese wine on the shelves of supermarkets.
Yet, Europe imports wine from south America, Africa and Australia, Portugal has to push it's way into this market.
The person responsible for trade and exports is clearly not doing their job, as Portugese wine is of a very good standard and the reserve wine's are exceptional and can l say that Sparkling wine from the Serra Estrella region is of the highest quality, l won't give a brand name... keeping that to myself.
Portugal needs to export more wine, olive oil, Port and Orange juice to provide the the economy of the country with an increase in revenue .......
But this can't be done until the relivant minister's come together to create a business plan to push for higher production.
The financial crisis that hit the world in 2009 could be seen in the context of the financial crisis that devastated Europe after WW2, when major building projects had to take place to rebuild Europe.
Some countries such as Britain, finally paid off their debt to the USA in 2015, 70 years after the crisis of war.
Hopefully, Governments will be more vigilant to the borrowing practices of their banks and citizens will not have to suffer as a result of the unscrupulous financial sector in the future.