EFSF approves final disbursement to Portugal

30 April 2014

Portugal is set to receive its final disbursement of €1.2 billion following the eleventh quarterly review of the macroeconomic adjustment programme. The country also achieved record sales at its first bond sale in three years.

The Board of Directors of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) approved today the disbursement of €1.2 billion to Portugal following the eleventh quarterly review of the macroeconomic adjustment programme. This will be the final instalment of EFSF financial assistance to Portugal. The first disbursement took place in June 2011, and the total amount disbursed by the EFSF is €26 billion, as agreed by ECOFIN in May 2011. The EFSF programme for Portugal will expire on 18 May.

Klaus Regling, CEO of the EFSF said: "As we approve the final EFSF disbursement to Portugal, I am very pleased to see the country’s achievements under the financial assistance programme. Three years ago Portugal had lost market access. After a painful but necessary economic adjustment the country is now starting to see benefits as imbalances are being corrected and credibility has been regained."

Press release

 

Portugal also held its first auction of government bonds in three years, and sold €750 million worth. The fact that investors were prepared to directly lend Lisbon money is a major confidence indicator as Portugal prepares to exit its EU and IMF bailout next month. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said the auction gave the country "strong confidence about the future". The interest to be paid, called yield, was 3.57 per cent; at the height of the debt crisis in early 2012, it was 18.29 per cent. Demand for the bonds outstripped the amount on offer by 3.5 times.

Further reporting by euronews © euronews


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