Portuguese Economy Minister, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, said some of his country’s banks might need more capital and he’d welcome foreign investment.
“There are specific cases where reinforcement is positive, but I don’t think there is a widespread problem with Portuguese banks,” Cabral said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Jonathan Ferro at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
France will continue to protect wine lovers by replanting its vast gene pool of half the grape varieties in the world.
Its initial effort to preserve global wine diversity for the future began in the mid-1800s as a result of the devastating Phylloxera epidemic which decimated French vineyards.
As Spaniards continue to wonder what their government will look like, Podemos has finally made a proposal which would shut the door on the conservatives.
Its leader, Pablo Iglesias, said that he had informed King Felipe VI of the party’s “desire to form a government of change with the Socialists and United Left”.
Officers of the Judicial Police have raided restaurants in Faro, Lisbon and Oporto whose owners were suspected of using computer software that allows them to fiddle the VAT.
Some 18 restaurants were targeted for their involvement in the fraud after an investigation by the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) raised suspicion that computers had been fitted with a programme that allows owners to enter amounts and print receipts which were not automatically transmitted to the tax authority via the offical terminals linked to the tills.
With the row over doctors’ hours continuing, the president of the Algarve’s hospitals management team, Dr Pedro Nunes has said he is leaving "in a matter of days."
Recent sharp criticism from Jaime Mendes of the Medical Council, Southern Region, included comments in a speech to a group of trainee doctors that they can expect to work an illegal number hours and face problems if they do not agree to do so.
António Costa's Socialist Party government has at last put forward its 2016 state budget that plans for a deficit reduction to 2.6% of GDP, slightly under the previous coalition administration’s target of 2.8%.
This should gain the approval of Brussels but the European Commission will want to know the detail of how Costa intends to achieve this seemingly miraculous task as his relaxation of austerity measures already has pointed to an increase in government spending.
The heavyweight committee members of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association have met in London and decided to postpone until February any decision about the status of the Novo Banco bonds controversially transferred back to BES.
Today's meeting was attended by representatives of Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Nomura.
VAT on food served in restaurants will reduce from the current 23%, to 13% in July this year in a welcome agreement between the government and its left wing allies. The easing of VAT does not cover drinks served in restaurants.
The delayed starting date for the new rate means the estimated loss of VAT revenue to the treasury will fall from €350 million to €175 million in this financial year.
