Blog entry | May 20, 2012 - 10:29pm
Fortunately Greece is the only Eurozone member that faces existential problems to stay or leave the euro area. Ireland and Portugal got last week the seal of 'good direction' by both the Ecofin and the Eurogroup. The two are meeting the programme targets to cut down deficits.
Fortunately Greece is the only Eurozone member that faces existential problems to stay or leave the euro area. Ireland and Portugal got last week the seal of 'good direction' by both the Ecofin and the Eurogroup. The two are meeting the programme targets to cut down deficits. As for Madrid, the Rajoy government got the approval of Brussels for its bank recapitalisation plan. Last but not least Holland even without a government manage to put together a parliamentary agreement to cut down fiscal deficits. But lets take one thing at a time.
Article | May 20, 2012 - 10:16pm
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded an annual rate of change of 3.0% in April 2012. Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the annual rate was 1.7%.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded an annual rate of change of 3.0% in April 2012. Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the annual rate was 1.7%. On a monthly basis, the CPI decreased to 0.3% (1.2% in March and 0.4% in April 2011). The CPI 12-month average rate decreased 0.1 percentage points (p.p.) to 3.5% in April, Statistics Portugal reported.
In April 2012, the Portuguese Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) annual inflation rate decreased to 2.9%, 0.3 p.p. above the rate estimated by Eurostat for the Euro area.
Article | May 10, 2012 - 12:32pm
More than 60% of Europeans believed that corruption was widely spread in the business of their countries in 2011 says a recent study conducted by Gallup International.
More than 60% of Europeans believed that corruption was widely spread in the business of their countries in 2011 says a recent study conducted by Gallup International.
The results were based on interviews with approximately 1,000 adults per country, aged 15 or older. The number of countries studied was 140.
Article | May 8, 2012 - 4:15pm
The European Union is considering a special package for Pakistani market, particularly the textile sector, and for this a proposal had already been presented, said Polish Deputy Minister of Economy Andrzej Dycha.
Poland is also keen to discuss bilateral relations with Pakistan and reduce the trade imbalance that exists between the two countries.
However, the EU is likely to increase the number of quota restricted items from 20 to 23 in the EU package for Pakistan.
Article | May 6, 2012 - 10:56pm
The Portuguese government is expecting to see growth in the economy next year and achieve about 2.5% growth by 2016. However this year the economy is expected to show contraction of about 3.3%.
The Portuguese government is expecting to see growth in the economy next year and achieve about 2.5% growth by 2016. However this year the economy is expected to show contraction of about 3.3%.
Article | May 2, 2012 - 5:45pm
Compared to the US and Japan, it seems that Europe lags behind in offering job security and perspective for its population and young people in particular.
The statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, released today the figures on the unemployment rates within Europe. The unemployment rate for March 2012 was 10.9% within the Euro zone and 10.2% within the EU27 in general.
According to the published data, in March 2012 there were 24.772 million unemployed men and women in the whole Union, of whom 17.365 million were in the euro area.
Article | May 2, 2012 - 2:23pm
Jean Claude Juncker, the president of Eurogroup, speaking in an interview on 2 May, strongly criticised Germany and France for their policies to counter the Eurozone's debt crisis.
Jean Claude Juncker, the president of Eurogroup, speaking in an interview on 2 May, strongly criticised Germany and France for their policies to counter the Eurozone's debt crisis, but he said that the German minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schaeuble is the best choice to succeed him at the head of the 17 ministers of Finance group, next month when he resigns this post.
Article | April 30, 2012 - 2:27pm
This week's issue of New Europe newspaper carries an article entitled “Eurozone to add growth in its strategy”. Our printed twin says, “The Eurozone seems to be preparing for nothing less than a full change of course in its strategy in an effort to counter its sovereign debt crisis...attempting to brake the present vicious cycle of deficits and recession and return to a growth path”.
Article | April 29, 2012 - 9:58pm
Data from the Portuguese central bank last week showed the country’s current account deficit decreased significantly in the first two months of this year.
Data from the Portuguese central bank last week showed the country’s current account deficit decreased significantly in the first two months of this year. The breakdowns showed, Portugal’s current account deficit decreased to €907 million in the two months ended February from €1.93 billion in the same period last year.
Article | April 27, 2012 - 2:08pm
The Eurozone seems to be preparing for nothing less than a full change of course in its strategy in an effort to counter its sovereign debt crisis.
The Eurozone seems to be preparing for nothing less than a full change of course in its strategy in an effort to counter its sovereign debt crisis. The reason for this is that the currently applied severe fiscal diet imposed not only to 'sinner' countries like Greece, Portugal. Ireland and Spain, but to surplus member states it is leading to a deepening recession, a prospect that may send the entire world to a new period of negative growth, if not a new round of financial meltdowns.
Article | April 27, 2012 - 11:19am
The first round of the French presidential elections happened to coincide with the demise of the right wing minority government in the Netherlands. Of course, there is no direct link between the two; French people do not vote in the Netherlands, and the Dutch unfortunately do not understand French any more since it was scrapped from the obligatory secondary school curriculum a generation ago, but still the two events may be fruits from the same tree. A wind of change is picking up momentum in Europe.
The first round of the French presidential elections happened to coincide with the demise of the right wing minority government in the Netherlands. Of course, there is no direct link between the two; French people do not vote in the Netherlands, and the Dutch unfortunately do not understand French any more since it was scrapped from the obligatory secondary school curriculum a generation ago, but still the two events may be fruits from the same tree. A wind of change is picking up momentum in Europe.
Article | April 25, 2012 - 10:38pm
Military officers who palyed a key part in Portugal's Carnation Revolution have boycotted this year's anniversary celebrations.
Portugal celebrated on 25 April the historic Carnation Revolution or “Day of Liberty,” with many festivals, military parades, cultural events and activities.
Article | April 18, 2012 - 10:27am
The National Geographic Traveler magazine announced its seventh annual "50 Tours of a Lifetime" ranking which categorises the best cultural destinations around the world. Bulgaria, France and Italy are in the top five of the European countries.
The National Geographic Traveler magazine announced its seventh annual "50 Tours of a Lifetime" ranking which categorises the best cultural destinations around the world.
In this year’s edition, Europe is represented by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Switzerland (in combination with Italy and France).
Blog entry | April 15, 2012 - 8:58pm
Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winning Indian economists, has said that the European Union is a democratic failure. In an interview with the German business newspaper, Handelsblatt, Sen said that a huge democratic deficit in the Eurozone, and also criticised European economic models.
Blog entry | April 15, 2012 - 8:41pm
I don´t believe in the individual society. I believe in a society where you and me can join our efforts to create value, innovate with creativity and produce with quality.
I don´t believe in the individual society. I believe in a society where you and me can join our efforts to create value, innovate with creativity and produce with quality. I believe that the unique capability of the individual capacity must be incorporated in dynamic collective strategies that give the society new answers to the problems that more and more it faces. In a time of change, with new challenges to a complex and uncertain society, you and me, we must use the knowledge as the right tool for a new collective agenda of economic and social development.
Blog entry | April 8, 2012 - 9:52pm
Article | April 8, 2012 - 9:37pm
The company which is responsible for oil and gas exploration and production activities of Portugal’s Galp Energia in Brazil, Petrogal Brasil, recently sold off a 30% stake to Chinese oil group Sinopec, local reports revealed last week after completion of the transaction.
The company which is responsible for oil and gas exploration and production activities of Portugal’s Galp Energia in Brazil, Petrogal Brasil, recently sold off a 30% stake to Chinese oil group Sinopec, local reports revealed last week after completion of the transaction.
The Portuguese stock market regulator (CMVM) reportedly confirmed that the capital increase of Petrogal Brasil had been concluded and Sinopec subscribed $4.8 billion in Petrogal Brasil and other related companies.
Article | April 4, 2012 - 3:40pm
Capital markets and European Commissioner Ollie Rehn aired similar warnings today, Wednesday 4 April over the Eurozone’s sovereign debt problem.
Capital markets and European Commissioner Ollie Rehn aired similar warnings today, Wednesday 4 April over the Eurozone’s sovereign debt problem. In detail, Madrid was forced to pay higher interest rates for an issue of government bonds, while Rehn speaking from his home city, Helsinki, said that the Eurozone member states should be prepared to help Portugal with a ‘bridge’ loan when the country is programmed to return to capital markets in 2013, but will not be quite ready for this.
Article | March 29, 2012 - 2:37pm
The Eurozone is set to decide the overall amount it is willing to set aside for a financial firewall
This weekend, the Eurozone is set to decide the overall amount its 17 member states, mainly Germany, are willing to set aside for a financial firewall to protect the money zone, from its present and future sovereign debt problems.
Article | March 27, 2012 - 1:17pm
On 27 March, the European Commission authorised the restructuring of Banco Portugues de Negócios (BPN), which has been the beneficiary of state aid since its nationalisation in 2008.
On 27 March, the European Commission authorised the restructuring of Banco Portugues de Negócios (BPN), which has been the beneficiary of state aid since its nationalisation in 2008.
The plan includes the sale of BPN to Banco BIC Portugal (BIC), which the Commission concluded should create a viable entity while ensuring an adequate own contribution of the bank to the costs of restructuring and limiting the distortions of competition created by the aid.
