According to comprehensive news from WorldWay, the Bank of Portugal recently stated that before the outbreak of the Golden Visa scandal, foreign direct investment in Portugal increased by 641%, with net foreign direct investment reaching 5.891 billion euros from September 2013 to this September.
A portion of this investment was made through the Golden Visa program. The Portuguese Deputy Prime Minister estimates that since the implementation of this program in 2012, over 1.1 billion euros in foreign investment has been attracted.
According to data revealed by the central bank last week, from January to September this year, Portugal attracted a total of 6.809 billion euros in foreign investment, nearly eight times more than the same period last year. These investment funds are primarily directed towards real estate projects, especially high-end residential and construction, with a minimum investment amount of 500,000 euros.
The Golden Visa policy was launched by the ruling party PSD/CDS in August 2012, and the current Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas and former Minister of Internal Affairs Miguel Macedo modified the policy in January 2013 to provide convenient conditions for investors to enter Portugal.
The Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs revealed that from October 2012 to this October, the Portuguese government granted a total of 1,775 Golden Visas, of which 1,681 were obtained through purchasing real estate in Portugal, 91 through capital transfer, and only 3 through the creation of at least 10 jobs to obtain a Golden Visa.
Earlier this year, the Chinese Fosun Group acquired a stake in Portugal's CGD Insurance (a subsidiary of the state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos) for 1 billion euros. Subsequently, the privatization project of Portugal's CTT attracted nearly 1 billion euros in investment funds. Therefore, the statistical data recently released by the central bank was influenced by these two investment amounts.
Two weeks ago, explosive news regarding the Golden Visa in Portugal came to public attention, with senior officials of the Portuguese government arrested on charges of bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power, and money laundering. Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas recently stated that improvements will be made to the Golden Visa policy, as this policy has brought considerable investment to Portugal, and it will continue to be implemented.
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Edited by WorldWay
