Portugal’s new prime minister is keen to create growth and investment, and wants the country to copy the direction already taken by its banking sector. Peter Wise explains.

Investment banks that are starved of corporate business have looked to project finance as a source of growth but middle-market corporate lending is looking up and they are getting ready to grab their share, reports Peter Wise.

Having been left in the dust of other countries racing to be at the economic forefront of the EU, Portugal is fighting back to reclaim its rightful place among the leaders in global investment, says Peter Wise.
Since 1993 more immigrants, most of them from the Ukraine and other east European countries, have been arriving in Portugal each year than emigrants have been leaving.

A new generation of directors, bankers, economists and politicians are determined that Portugal will be completely transformed, writes Peter Wise in Lisbon.

Portuguese banks have proved themselves buoyant in a challenging economic environment, diversifying and cost-cutting to achieve good results. Peter Wise reports.
Recession? What recession? Despite six successive quarters of economic downturn, Portuguese banks are achieving robust growth. Most of them outshone analysts’ forecasts by a wide margin in 2003 and several recorded their best annual results ever.

Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, chairman of the Portuguese securities market commission, tells Peter Wise what the commission is doing to keep Portugal aligned with best international practices while allowing the market to develop.