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The two support measures for families to mitigate monthly housing expenses – support for rents and subsidized interest on housing loans – will have a global cost of 460 million euros, announced this Thursday the Prime Minister, António Costa, at a joint press conference with Fernando Medina, Minister of Finance, and Marina Gonçalves, Minister of Housing.

“The previous package of measures had a global estimate of 900 million euros, but we can say that this specific support package will have a value of 460 million euros”, said António Costa in statements to journalists.

Large international funds see the Portuguese market as a gold mine for real estate investment and this can be seen when analyzing the market share of investment funds. According to “Jornal de Negócios”, which cites the head of capital markets at CBRE, it is estimated that investment by funds has exceeded 85% in the domestic market in recent years.

Even so, several experts point out that this is a piece of data for which it is very difficult to have a precise number, since many investors have complex corporate structures and invest in the real estate market based on them.

The European Central Bank (ECB) opted this Thursday to keep the course unchanged despite the stress in the international banking sector in the last week, once again raising interest rates by 50 basis points (bp). The reference rate for the euro zone is thus set at 3%.

Expectations regarding Thursday’s announcement were high, after the bankruptcies in the US and the fall in the Credit Suisse stock market, but the European monetary authority opted to go back to raising interest rates aggressively, signaling that the difficulties in the Swiss bank were not alter the course of its policy.

Greenvolt acquired 37.3% of Solarelit, a renewable energy distribution company, and also has the possibility of increasing its stake in the company’s capital. This is the sixth European market in which Greenvolt invests, after Portugal, Spain, Poland, Germany and Greece.

The purchase was made through Greenvolt Next Holding and, in this way, the company led by João Manso Neto will now control more than a third of the capital of the Italian company. The acquisition by the national company values ​​Solarelit at 33.5 million euros.

The Council of Ministers will meet, this Thursday, to approve measures for housing, after yesterday the PS made PSD measures for housing possible.

During Wednesday’s plenary meeting, the PS abstained in relation to the five diplomas of the Social Democrats, which provided for measures such as support for renting, flexibility of licensing, State guarantees to help young people buy and generalized tax relief in the sector.

Nurses from 75 private health units in the country are on strike today, the first that these professionals have carried out to demand better working conditions and 10% salary increases.

“From the information that has come to us, dissatisfaction is great and the will to join the strike is immense, because nurses want to see working conditions improved”, Isabel Barbosa, leader of the Portuguese Nurses Union (SEP) told Lusa.

CP suppressed 57 trains out of the 253 scheduled between 00:00 and 08:00 today due to the carrier’s train drivers’ strike, with 196 having been carried out, according to data sent by the company to Lusa.

CP – Comboios de Portugal indicates that of the 66 scheduled regional trains, 24 connections were not made and in Lisbon’s urban trains 115 were scheduled and 23 were suppressed.

Carrilho da Graça, an architect since 1977, receives this Thursday, March 16, the title Honoris Causa from the University of Évora, which joins the degree awarded to him by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon.

As godparents, he also has the architect Álvaro Siza and the former rector of the UÉ, Jorge Araújo, and in the audience there are four very special guests: the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the ministers: Elvira Fortunato, of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Ana Abrunhosa, from Territorial Cohesion and Duarte Cordeiro, Minister of the Environment.

Brisa’s new business area is called VerifiCar and arrives on the market to facilitate the purchase and sale of used cars between individuals. In Portugal, the sale of used cars between private individuals represents more than 50% of sales and a volume close to 300 thousand vehicles per year.

In a statement, the company led by António Pires de Lima says that “at VerifiCar, whose first store opened this Wednesday, at the Olympus Building in Matosinhos (invitation attached), specialized technicians carry out a verification using test and diagnostic equipment and prepare a detailed report, to be shared between seller and buyer, on the state of conservation and operation of all vehicle systems, including engine, steering, suspension, transmission, braking and electrical systems and also running system, equipment and bodywork ”.

This information is contained in a request that the PSD presented and delivered today to the TAP inquiry commission and that was presented by coordinator Paulo Moniz during the meeting that took place this afternoon.

“The information received today by the TAP Commission of Inquiry, in which it is clear that the former Minister of Infrastructure, Pedro Nuno Santos received an email, on December 29, 2021, in which Alexandra Reis made her position available – eventually , without any compensation, and the Commission of Inquiry does not yet have a record of responses to this email ”, states the party in the application.