The government announced today that the 2013 public deficit will be between 4.6% and 4.7% of GDP excluding the one off state support payment to rescue Banif.
If the €700 million given to Banif was to be added to the annual total, the deficit will be at least 5.1% as the state’s generosity to the bank was the equivalent of 0.4% of the deficit.
Pedro Nunes, president of the Board of Directors of the Hospitals of the Algarve, and Joao Pedro Moura Reis of the Governing Council of the Regional Health Authority managed both to miss the key debate on the 'State of Health the Western Algarve' where they were destined to be in the spotlight.
Both claim to have let the organisers know beforehand that they would not be attending but no messages were received and the audience was left disappointed and angry.
Burglaries in rural holiday properties in France soared by nearly 18% in a year.
Official figures show an increase in burglary and theft during 2013, with second homes faring worst. An increase in police protection had failed to halt the rise.
Malta’s new scheme to sell passports to rich foreigners has come under scrutiny by the EU.
The European Commission says that the rules about citizenship are up to individual countries, but that it is in talks with Malta over the scheme.
Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has reported that it indeed has received a request from Scotland Yard for assistance in the case of Madeleine McCann.
A note sent to press agency Lusa today stated that "a request has been lodged at the Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR) from the British authorities requesting aid." There is no indication how long the request has been at the PGR offices but is has been 'analysed' before being acted on.
The Forte de São Roque, or São José, but known locally as the Forte de Meia Praia in Lagos has at last been listed as a monument of public interest.
The new decree was signed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Jorge Barreto Xavier, which distinguishes the Forte de São Roque was published today in the official gazette.
The Forte de São Roque lies strategically in the centre of the beach defining the bay of Lagos and was one of the coastal defences. This 840m2 fort was built between1671-1675 in the face of constant attack from pirates in their swift corsairs keen to plunder and take locals away to be sold as slaves.
The single currency has been blamed for increasing inequality in the eurozone which could threaten the fabric of the European Union, according to a report published by the European Commission.
Eurozone membership demands a reduction in national sovereignty which has brought on “increased unemployment and social hardship” in many countries.
Trust in the European Union continues to taper off, hitting a record low with fewer than one in three expressing confidence in 2013.
The greatest drop in trust took place in countries in the peripheral south where the worst economic hardship and chronic unemployment have been shouldered.
