Portugal just announced the biggest business financing partnership in the country’s history, with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro revealing a €6.5 billion program to support over 40,000 small and medium companies, according to a press release from the European Investment Fund (EIF).
The InvestEU Fomento-FEI program represents the largest partnership ever designed by the Portuguese government with the European Commission and EIF to support national businesses and entrepreneurs. Montenegro made the announcement to more than 1,000 business leaders at an event in Santa Maria da Feira, calling it “a cornerstone to support the micro, small and medium companies that entail the investment network of the Portuguese Economy.” The program mobilizes more investment than any other InvestEU Member State Compartment across Europe.
The financing targets Portugal’s economic transformation in five key areas: innovation, digitalization, sustainability, competitiveness, and agriculture. Small and medium enterprises, small mid-caps, and individuals will all be eligible for support under the program. The EIF has published a call for banks to apply as intermediaries to channel the guaranteed loans, with the first transactions expected before the end of 2025.
The program gets its funding from three sources: €450 million from Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, €50 million in public guarantees from the state budget, and €490 million from EIF resources. This financial structure was included in the latest amendment to Portugal’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, submitted in February and approved by the European Council in May 2025.
Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion Castro Almeida emphasized that “Portugal has now a new financing instrument to support business investment by SMEs in strategic areas such as competitiveness, innovation and digitalisation, sustainability, and agriculture.” The program complements existing instruments from Banco Português de Fomento, Portugal’s national promotional bank, to finance the economy at scale under competitive market conditions.
EIF CEO Marjut Falkstedt said the agreement “opens a new chapter in our collaboration” with Portugal and “will generate important financial support for tens of thousands of Portuguese companies, driving competitiveness, sustainability and innovation.” The partnership builds on previous successful programs between Portugal and the EIF, representing a strong commitment between Portugal and Europe to foster investment for growth.
