World

Portugal receives 2.37 bln euros from IMF

LISBON
2021-08-24 00:42

Already collect



LISBON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Portugal received 2.373 billion euros (2.785 billion U.S. dollars) on Monday from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to "strengthen its foreign exchange reserves," according to Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The money represents 1,974.5 million units of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), an asset which IMF countries can exchange for hard currencies with other member countries.

The goal of the funding is to "help smooth" the country's accounts by "increasing liquidity and avoiding unbalanced policies, while providing space to increase expenditure in response to the crisis and on vaccines," the IMF said.

An SDR is a unit of account for the IMF. It is composed of a basket of international currencies, in which the U.S. dollar represents 41.73 percent, the euro 30.93 percent, the yuan 10.92 percent, the yen 8.33 percent, and the pound sterling 8.09 percent.

Portugal has adopted several measures to reactivate the country's economy and recover losses caused by the pandemic. These include refunding value-added tax (VAT) on consumption in tourism, hotels, culture, and restaurants.

On Monday, the country eased its COVID-19 measures, with more customers now allowed in stores, and opening hours of commercial establishments extended. Capacity limits were also completely removed on public transport. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
Add comments

Latest comments

Latest News
News Most Viewed