Albuquerque admits economic downturn in Madeira due to the new coronavirus

Although the virus is not yet in Madeira, so they tell us, the affects are already being felt in the Region.

Miguel Albuquerque admits that the economy of the Autonomous Region of Madeira suffers a retraction due to the impact of the new coronavirus and expects Madeiran companies to be covered by the credit line announced yesterday by the Prime Minister.

The head of the Madeiran executive said that he has the support of the Republic in the credit line that was announced yesterday by the Prime Minister, António Costa, in the amount of 100 million euros to support companies in Madeira that may suffer the effects of the epidemic .

Determined to “not stop economic growth”, he admitted that “there may be some contraction, even if it is punctual”, namely in Tourism that has already had repercussions in the cancellation of flights from Italy to Porto Santo. However, Albuquerque’s expectation is that “the peak will be reached quickly” in order to recover the rest of the year.

Albuquerque was speaking at the end of the visit to the Unilift company, based in Caniço, which had a turnover of 2 million euros in 2019 and employs 11 employees. The initiative is part of the Economy Roadmap, which has taken the president of the Regional Government and the regional secretary of Economy, Rui Barreto, to visit several companies. At the end of the tour, a report will be drawn up with the suggestions of the entrepreneurs, which will then be considered and replicated, those that are considered feasible, in the next regional budgets.

From Diário Notícias