Manuel Castro Almeida, the Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, stated in a press release, “We continue to meet the defined deadlines and achieve goals, intervening in fundamental and structural areas for the economy and the country.”
The European Commission today gave a preliminary favorable opinion on the sixth payment request submitted by Portugal under the NextGenerationEU program, amounting to 1.34 billion euros. According to the government, this amount includes 851 million euros in grants and 485 million euros in loans.
The ministry, led by Castro Almeida, further detailed that the sixth payment request includes achievements related to seven reforms and 22 investments in areas such as health, social responses, business capitalization and innovation, energy efficiency, hydrogen and renewables, public finance quality and sustainability, economic justice and business environment, public administration efficiency, and educational and pedagogical innovation.
The request, submitted on November 14, 2024, was approved following the successful completion of 32 milestones and targets established in the PRR. The preliminary assessment was sent to the Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to issue its opinion, after which the Commission will adopt the final decision, allowing for payment to proceed.
In total, the Portuguese recovery plan is financed by 22.2 billion euros in grants and loans, aimed at boosting sustainable growth and strengthening public services in the country. The government emphasized in the same statement that, with the recent submission of the seventh payment request, Portugal continues to meet the defined schedule agreed with Brussels, increasing the execution rate of the PRR to 47%.
