Portugal's finance minister is confident that the planned sale of Novo Banco to the US vulture fund, Lone Star, is on track and will go ahead as planned.

The sale of Novo Banco remains under threat from bond holders, nursing losses of around €1.5 billion, who have gone to court for compensation. This has raised concerns among analysts that these legal disputes still might upset the planned sale.

Portugal is the place to be, according to another survey, this one being the 'EY Survey of Attractiveness of Portugal 2017.'

This optimism is shown by 62% of foreign investors who think Portugal has a bright future and the 32% of investors that are willing to increase investment in the country during the next year.

After a trial lasting more than six years, those responsible for fraud, mismanagement, forgery and the collapse of Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) have been given prison sentences, the highest of which is 14 years with eight of them 'suspended.'

BPN ended up being run for the benefit of members of its crooked management and went bust in 2008, triggering a State bailout that so far has cost the public purse over €3 billion.

Angolan students are being forced to ditch their studies in Portugal, according to the president of the Association of Angolan Students, due to "delay in money transfers from Angola to here."

Many Angolan students studying in Portugal are reliant on money sent from their families but due to a financial and economic crisis due to the drop in oil prices, Angola has imposed exchange controls leaving up to 4,000 students in Portugal with little or no cash.

The government’s continues lack of clear thinking on the Alojamento Local tourism rental laws reached new heights today with an amendment to force apartment owners to get the written permission of other owners in the building before they will be allowed to let their property in the lucrative short term tourist rental market.

Instead of clarifying the law, the government has passed the buck and is to require landlords to obtain a statement from the householders' condominium assembly to give permission to rent out their apartment. This additional document will need to be submitted with AL application forms for apartments, along with all the other documents.

Vila do Bispo council has published a tender in Diário da República for the "rehabilitation of the building of the old grain storage barns in Vila do Bispo” to turn them into a history and cultural centre.

The job is worth a cool €1 million and the winning builder will have a year to complete the job.

Portugal is in the top ten producers of lithium which is increasingly sought after by manufacturers of electric cars which use the element in their battery packs and for companies supplying batteries for mobile phones..

There are now 46 applications from companies to the government to explore for and extract lithium from Alto Minho to Beira Baixa, passing through Trás-os-Montes, where Dakota Minerals already is mining the ‘white oil’ in a €370 million investment.

The billionaire President of Altice has assured everyone that he has no plans to sack swathes of PT and MEO staff.

"There is no massive exit plan for Portugal," said Patrick Drahi, responding to comments made by Portugal’s prime minister that he will not authorise any collective dismissal proposals.