Portugal may have to provide more than the €500 million that it budgeted for ailing airline TAP this year due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, the country's finance minister has said.
Asked how much more the Portuguese government expects to spend on TAP this year, Joao Leao told Portuguese business newspaper Jornal de Negócios, "That is still being analysed".
"The situation of TAP is very demanding...that amount may have to be reconsidered because at the moment the pandemic is having a much stronger impact than expected," Leao said.
The redundancies may be lower if the European Union accepts an agreement in principle last week between the leaders of 15 unions and TAP's board.
However, if the EU executive rejects Lisbon's proposal, TAP will have to immediately repay a €1.2 billion rescue loan agreed in June, which could lead to its insolvency.
Leao said that the plan "will imply a very significant structural change in the company to ensure that TAP becomes a profitable company and manages to survive this crisis", adding that talks with Brussels need to be completed "as quickly as possible".
TAP asked for state aid in April after suspending almost all of its 2,500 weekly flights at the height of the coronavirus crisis, and recorded losses of more than €700 million for the first nine months of 2020.
Leao also said that the government will maintain support measures to companies "whatever the cost" for as long as Portugal's economy is impacted by the pandemic crisis.
Likely To Cut Growth Forecast
Portugal said last month that it is likely to cut its 5.4% growth forecast for 2020 due to a new lockdown.
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