Fifty and one hundred euro notes fanned out over bank cards

Business 25 July 2026

Should Portugal's minimum wage jump to €1,050 now? Unions think so

Portugal's CGTP union is again demanding a minimum wage of €1,050 immediately, while the signed deal only sets €970 for 2027 and employers say there is no room.

The CGTP does not want to wait for 2027. Portugal’s largest union confederation this week renewed its demand that the national minimum wage rise straight to €1,050 — well above the €970 already pencilled in for next year — and the ask has reopened a fight that will simmer all summer.

Here is where the numbers stand today. The 2024 incomes agreement, signed by the government, the UGT union and the employers’ confederations, sets the minimum to climb €50 in 2027, from today’s €920 to €970. The CGTP never signed that deal and calls it far too thin against the cost of living.

Why is the CGTP asking for €1,050 now?

For the confederation, the maths simply does not add up in people’s kitchens. On top of the immediate jump to €1,050, it wants every salary not yet updated in 2026 to rise at least 15%, and never by less than €150. The logic is blunt: prices have already climbed, pay has not kept up, and haggling only over the 2027 review leaves workers losing spending power right now.

What do the government and employers say?

The government’s line, from the Labour Minister, is that there is “an agreement to honour” and that it is neither opening nor closing the door to going further. Employers are blunter still: the head of the Portuguese Business Confederation says there are no conditions for a rise above the agreed €50, pointing to tight margins and economic uncertainty.

Caught in the middle is the question that matters to anyone on the minimum: what will this be worth at the end of the month? For now the 2026 figure stays at €920 and the official path points to €970 in 2027 — the rest is bargaining pressure. If you want the background on how the current figure was set and what it means for deductions, see our guide to Portugal’s minimum wage; the terms of the tripartite deal are published on the government’s portal.

Social-partner talks resume in the autumn to fix the 2027 figure. Until then, it is worth not confusing a union demand with a done deal — what the CGTP asks for and what lands on the payslip are two different things.

By Beatriz Mota

Image: User:Mattes / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Business 12 November 2026

China keeps its rare-earth curbs on ice, but this time only until 10 January

Beijing's commerce ministry extended the suspension of six October 2025 export rules, including the extraterritorial 0.1% rule, for 61 days rather than a year. The decision lands ahead of a Xi-Trump meeting at APEC in Shenzhen.

China is not tightening rare-earth exports again just yet, but it has stopped handing out long breathing space. Its commerce ministry and customs authority issued Announcement No. 58 on 9 November, keeping six export-control rules from October 2025 suspended. The last suspension ran for a year. This one runs from 11 November to 10 January 2027, which is 61 days. Six notices from 2025. The two that mattered most outside China cover batteries (licences for…

Business 11 November 2026

Spain stops for 24 hours today. Flights abroad keep only 39% to 64% of their schedule

CCOO, UGT, CGT and CNT have called a general strike for Wednesday 11 November over pay, housing and prices. Spain's Transport Ministry set minimum services of 73% on AVE trains, 75% at peak on Cercanías and 39% to 64% on international flights.

Spain is on a 24-hour general strike today, Wednesday 11 November, running midnight to midnight. If you are flying there from Portugal, the number that matters is the minimum service: on flights between Spain and other countries, which covers routes to Lisbon and Porto, the Spanish government has ordered airlines to keep between 39% and 64% of operations, depending on the airport. The figures come from Spain's Transport Ministry and, according to the…

Business 10 November 2026

Portugal's goods trade gap is €3bn wider than last year. In September, fuel did most of the damage

The goods trade deficit reached €3,209 million in September, €314 million more than a year earlier, INE says, with fuels behind 74% of the rise in imports. January to September it totals €27,875 million, up €3,006 million.

Portugal bought €723 million more in goods from abroad in September than a year earlier, and sold €409 million more. The gap pushed the goods trade deficit up by €314 million, to €3,209 million. According to INE's international trade statistics, 74% of the rise in imports came from a single category: fuels and lubricants. In percentage terms, exports rose 5.7% and imports 7.2% on September 2025.

Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins on a white sofa on Centre Stage at Web Summit 2019 in Lisbon, listening to the other speaker

Business 9 November 2026

Canva's way out: six months' pay, the MacBook, and $10,000 to start something new

The Australian design platform is cutting 1,271 jobs, 22% of its staff, after its growth slowed for the first time in a decade. The exit package (at least six months' pay, a year of healthcare, the laptop and a no-strings $10,000 fund) became LinkedIn's case study of the week.

Canva is letting go of 1,271 people, 22% of its workforce, in a note from co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins that the company posted in its newsroom. The headcount was confirmed by TechCrunch. By our maths, that puts the Australian company at roughly 5,800 people before the cuts. The size of the layoff isn't why everyone's talking about it. The leaving package is.

Business 8 November 2026

Markets tracker: gold, the Fed, oil and stocks

Our running tracker of the markets that move savings in Portugal — gold, Fed and ECB decisions, oil and stocks. Updated whenever there is news.

This is our running tracker of the markets that move savings in Portugal. Instead of a fresh article for every swing, we update this page whenever something matters: gold, Federal Reserve and European Central Bank decisions, oil and the main stock indices. For the background on the Portuguese economy, see our mid-year review. Official data is at the Bank of Portugal.

Business 6 November 2026

61 million fans in three months pushed Live Nation past $10bn in revenue

The world's biggest concert promoter, which is selling U2's Lisbon stadium tickets, reported third-quarter revenue of $10.105bn, up 19%. Attendance grew at the same pace, and ticket sales for 2027 shows are already up by double digits.

Live Nation, the world's biggest concert promoter and the owner of Ticketmaster, has just had its strongest quarter on record. Between July and September it sold shows to 61 million people and brought in $10.105bn, 19% more than a year earlier, according to the earnings release it filed with the US regulator on Thursday. Operating income rose 13% to $892m. Concerts, the bulk of the business, made $8.746bn. Ticketmaster's ticketing arm made $870m on 98…

Business 5 November 2026

Live in the UK? Your gas standing charge is on its way out, and so are new North Sea fields

The Energy Independence Bill, introduced to Parliament on 4 November, ends licences to explore new oil and gas fields and paves the way to scrap the daily gas standing charge, which the government says will save around 60% of gas customers an average of £45 a year.

The UK government put a bill before Parliament on Wednesday that reaches into household bills and the future of North Sea oil at the same time. The Energy Independence Bill ends licences to explore new, untapped oil and gas fields and sets up the scrapping of the daily gas standing charge. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh called it a first down payment on fixing a system that leaves households exposed to price shocks thousands of miles away. If you live…

Business 4 November 2026

One missing engine chip could idle Fiat Pandina and 500 production until December

Stellantis says a shortage of an engine-control-unit component from a single supplier is causing 'significant' disruption in Italy. Pomigliano (Pandina) and Mirafiori (500) may halt in November and December, and the Termoli engine plant is also exposed.

A small part is causing a big problem for Fiat. Stellantis says a shortage of an electronic component used in the engine control unit (the computer that runs a car's engine) is causing "significant" disruption to production of some Fiat models in Italy, and that it could drag on through November and December. The worst-hit model is the Pandina, the updated Panda and one of the brand's best-selling small cars. Reuters reported on 2 November that the…

Business 3 November 2026

Apple sold $57.6bn of iPhones in John Ternus's first quarter. China grew fastest

In the quarter to 26 September, the first full one with John Ternus as CEO, Apple's revenue rose 11.7% to $114.5bn and profit reached $30.7bn. The iPhone brought in half of it. Apple's own regional tables show Greater China up 21%, ahead of the Americas (10.2%) and Europe (11.5%).

Apple took in $114.5bn between July and September, 11.7% more than a year earlier, and made $30.7bn in profit. It was the first full quarter with John Ternus as chief executive, a job he has held since 1 September, when Tim Cook moved up to chairman. That closes fiscal 2026 at $479bn, the best year in the company's history, according to Apple's results announcement.

Illustration of a brown leather shoe on a workbench under a hanging lamp, inside a sawtooth-roofed factory hall with idle machines and an empty conveyor

Business 2 November 2026

632 jobs go as Ecco shuts the Portuguese factory it opened in 1984

Danish shoemaker Ecco said on Monday it will permanently close its factory in São João de Ver, Santa Maria da Feira, its first plant outside Denmark. Production had already stopped. The move is part of a global restructuring that also closes its Vietnam unit.

Ecco is closing its shoe factory in São João de Ver, Santa Maria da Feira, and letting all 632 of its workers go. Staff were told at a meeting on Monday morning, by which point production had already been halted. The Danish company says it will start the legal process for a "total and permanent closure". It gave no end date. Workers say the shutdown will be gradual, with some staying on for a while. The factory opened in 1984 and was the first Ecco ever…

Illustration of a white-sailed caravel bearing the Cross of the Order of Christ sailing into a sunset, while a broken chain and an iron ball sink into the sea

Business 2 November 2026

Portugal gets the go-ahead to repay another €5bn of its bailout early

The EFSF has cleared Portugal to repay up to €2.4bn of its EFSM loan ahead of schedule by the end of 2026, and up to €2.6bn more by the end of 2027, without triggering matching EFSF repayments. Add December 2025's €2.5bn and that's €7.5bn returned early to the EU mechanism.

Portugal has the green light to hand back another €5bn of its troika-era loans before they fall due. On 30 October the board of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) cleared early repayments to the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) of up to €2.4bn by the end of 2026 and up to a further €2.6bn by the end of 2027, according to the European Stability Mechanism's press release.

Business 30 October 2026

Binance just lost $6.3 billion in crypto's biggest hack. It started with one engineer's laptop

The world's largest crypto exchange confirmed the theft on 29 October and paused withdrawals on several networks. About $3 billion has been frozen, Binance says its SAFU fund and own money will cover customers, and blockchain analysts point to North Korea.

Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, lost around $6.3 billion in a hack on Thursday 29 October. That makes it the largest crypto theft on record, more than four times the roughly $1.5 billion taken from Bybit in February 2025. The figure comes from Binance's own incident announcement, and withdrawals remain paused on several networks while it investigates.

Business 29 October 2026

Christine Lagarde will leave the ECB on 7 February, nine months early

The European Central Bank president told the Governing Council and European Council President António Costa on Thursday that she will step down on 7 February 2027. Her eight-year term was due to run until 31 October 2027. EU leaders pick her successor, and Costa says the process starts today.

Christine Lagarde will step down as President of the European Central Bank on 7 February 2027. She told the ECB's Governing Council and European Council President António Costa on Thursday, and the bank confirmed the date in a three-paragraph press release that closes with the governors giving her a long standing ovation. It is an early exit. Her eight-year term began on 1 November 2019 and was due to end on 31 October 2027.

Business 28 October 2026

The queue for Jio's IPO paid off. Shares opened 21% higher on day one

Jio Platforms, Mukesh Ambani's telecoms arm, opened at ₹1,358 on both the NSE and BSE on Wednesday, against an issue price of ₹1,119. That is a 21.36% premium at the open, and the stock closed higher still at ₹1,419 (up 26.8%) after the most heavily bid listing India has ever seen.

Jio Platforms started trading in Mumbai on Wednesday and its shares opened at ₹1,358 on both the NSE and the BSE. They were sold in the IPO at ₹1,119, the top of the range. That is 21.36% up in the first minute. For anyone who got an allocation, it was quick money. For Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, which owns the operator, it is proof that the record demand was not just noise. When the offer closed on Friday, Jio had drawn around $77bn of bids for a little…