Lisbon, Feb. 26, 2026 (Lusa) - Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento was discharged this afternoon after being hospitalised on Wednesday and will be able to resume his duties next week, the ministry said in a statement.

“After being admitted to the Santa Maria Local Health Unit yesterday [Wednesday], where he was under observation in the Neurology Department, the Minister of State and Finance was discharged this afternoon,” it said.

“The minister is well and resting, and will be able to resume his duties in full next week,” according to the Ministry of Finance.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Santa Maria Local Health Unit said that Joaquim Miranda Sarmento “underwent the normal tests appropriate to his clinical condition, and the medical team decided to admit him for observation, as his clinical condition is stable.”

The minister was admitted to the Central Emergency Room of Santa Maria Hospital “following an illness” and underwent “tests that ruled out the possibility of a stroke,” which had been suggested by some media outlets.

Joaquim Miranda Sarmento held the Finance portfolio in both governments led by Luís Montenegro and was economic advisor to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva between 2012 and 2016.

The minister was born on August 7, 1978, in Lisbon and is 47 years old.

ALN/ADB // ADB.

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