Duarte Freitas praises opening of CEMAH branch office in Porto - Communication

Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública

The Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration took part today in the opening of the new branch of Caixa Económica da Misericórdia de Angra do Heroísmo - CEMAH (banking institution) in the city of Porto.

During the session, the government official praised the opening of this new branch office, which is in contrast to the rest of the banking sector, which is closing branch offices nationwide.

"Recently, we have seen banks in the Region closing their branch offices on our islands, and now we have the example of CEMAH, which continues to open branch offices throughout the Region and now throughout the country," he said.

For Duarte Freitas, "This is an example of how CEMAH, as an institution, values closeness to users, demonstrating the importance of decision-making centres in the Region that are sensitive to our reality as an archipelago."

During his speech, Duarte Freitas underlined some data attesting to the strength of the Region's public finances, validated by the Public Finance Council and the rating agency DBRS, which upgraded the Region's rating for the first time since 2019.

It should be noted that the economic activity indicator for the Azores has been growing for 44 consecutive months and the private consumption indicator for 46 consecutive months. Furthermore, GDP growth in the Azores remains higher than in the country and the inflation and unemployment rates are lower than in the country.