The Portuguese state allocated a record profit to bolster public finances after finalizing the sale of its stake in Novo Banco to the French financial group BPCE. The transaction, formalized through an order from the Ministry of Finance, injected fresh funds into the national treasury.
The transaction marked the definitive exit of the State and the bank resolution fund from the financial institution's capital. Both public entities joined forces with the US fund Lone Star to transfer all of the country's fourth-largest bank to the French giant, culminating a process that began with the bailout of the former Banco Espírito Santo.
The net proceeds obtained by the Treasury reached 766 million euros, equivalent to 875 million dollars. Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento confirmed that all of this money will be used to pay the State's financial obligations and reduce the sovereign debt burden.
This capital injection will boost the government's goal of reducing national debt to below 88 percent of the total economy this year. In this way, the country is consolidating a steady improvement in its finances following the most critical moments of the global health crisis.
