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Ten-euro banknotes and ten-cent euro coins fanned out, illustrating rising Portuguese household debt.

Portuguese Households Owe a Record €180 Billion as Housing Credit Outruns the Bank of Portugal's New Limits

Portuguese households now owe a record of around €180 billion, Bank of Portugal figures show, as the mortgage book hits €116.8 billion and indebtedness accelerates for a 19th straight month — just as a new 45% repayment cap takes effect.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

The Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Bartolomeu Dias, pennant number F333, under way at sea under a clear blue sky

Portugal to Borrow €5.8 Billion to Rearm, With Three Decades of Oversight Built In

Portugal will borrow €5.8 billion under the EU's SAFE rearmament programme through 2030, Defence Minister Nuno Melo told parliament — pledging an independent oversight structure that gives the Court of Auditors and Public Prosecutor decades of scrutiny over frigates, drones and munitions.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

Pedestrians walking along Rua Augusta, Lisbon's main downtown pedestrian street, on the black-and-white calçada pavement between tall buildings, with the Rua Augusta arch in the distance

Economy Minister Promises an Almost-'Green Lane' for Immigrants Who Arrive With a Job and a Home

Economy Minister Manuel Castro Almeida says 'wide-open doors' to migration 'did not produce good results', but promises an almost-'green lane' for immigrants who arrive with a job and a home — reframing immigration around Portugal's record-low unemployment and labour shortage.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

A cream-coloured 1930s apartment block in Lisbon, its curved balconies and lower floors clad in patterned azulejo tiles, seen from street level against an overcast sky

Portugal's Estate Agencies Post Record First-Half Revenue Even as Home Sales Fall 7.7%

Portugal's biggest estate-agency networks posted record first-half revenue even as home sales fell 7.7% to 75,860 in H1 2026. With prices up 18.6% and foreign and institutional buyers paying far above residents, fewer keys are changing hands — but each sale is worth much more.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

A stock-market candlestick chart on a laptop screen with city lights blurred behind it

Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Climbs 0.5%, Utilities Lead, €1.58bn Grid Plan Cleared

📋 In This Edition * Market Wrap: Lisbon Climbs 0.5% as Utilities and Telecoms Lead * Movers: REN, NOS and the EDP Complex Power the Advance; Sonae Lags * Business & Tech Focus: €1.58bn Grid Plan Cleared, Nors Takes Full Ownership of Its Volvo Truck Arm, Vila Galé Cracks the Global Top

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

The Parque das Nações business district in Lisbon, where Swisscom will open a new operations centre

Swisscom Picks Lisbon for a New Operations Hub, Starting With 40 Jobs in 2027

Switzerland's largest telecoms operator will open a technology and business-services centre in Lisbon in 2027, starting with 40 staff and aiming for around 200 — its third such hub after Riga and Rotterdam, and one more foreign employer betting on the city's talent base.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

The Palácio da Justiça in Lisbon, a modernist court building, as Portugal moves to streamline judicial procedures

A New Decree Rewrites Court Procedures to Speed Cases and Cut Registry Paperwork

A decree-law published on 6 August amends Portugal's criminal, civil and administrative procedure codes to trim bureaucracy — bundling fee guides into notifications, blocking incomplete online filings, and letting courts pull data from public databases directly instead of asking parties to resupply

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

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