José Sena Goulão / LUSA
The Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento
The proposal will serve to replace the extinct additional solidarity tax, which was declared unconstitutional.
The Minister of Finance confirmed that the Government wants to move forward with a new tax on the banking sectorafter the Constitutional Court declared the additional solidarity tax created in 2020 unconstitutional.
In an interview with Antena 1 and , Joaquim Miranda Sarmento states that the measure will be prepared during the first half of 2026, with the aim of presenting a bill to Parliament during this period.
The governor emphasizes, however, that it is “I need some caution” to prevent the new taxation from being considered unconstitutional again.
The extinct tax yielded around 40 million euros annually, but the Court’s decision now obliges the State to return around 200 million to the bank. Miranda Sarmento admits that the rate was created “in a hurry” and guarantees that the new tax will be designed with more legal and economic rigor.
The minister also addressed the situation at Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), which plans to provide a dividend of around one billion euros in 2026, a value that the Public Finance Council considered optimistic. Miranda Sarmento justifies the forecast with the strengthening of CGD’s balance sheet after the sale of its stake in Águas de Portugal to Parpública and the increase in the institution’s profits.
The minister also acknowledged having changed his opinion on the privatization of CGD, which he had defended for around a decade. “It was completely wrong. It’s a good thing the country didn’t privatize Caixa”, he stated, praising the current management led by Paulo Macedo.
For the minister, maintaining a strong public bank is essential to ensure that “decision centers remain in Portugal”.
Regarding the appointment of Álvaro Santos Pereira as the new governor of the Bank of Portugal, Miranda Sarmento praised the economist’s “competence, responsibility and independence”.
The head of Finance also considers that the growing banking concentration in Europe does not, for now, represent a risk for the country. On the contrary, he sees the entry of large European groups, such as the French BPCE, as a “extraordinary sign of confidence” in the Portuguese economy.
