LISBON: The Portuguese government has announced a Recovery and Resilience Plan with USD19 billion of European Union funds to re-emerge the economy after the Covid-19 crisis.

The Portugal government will infuse directly 5.1 billion euros in companies, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in a statement on Friday after introducing the plan to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, reports by  Xinhua.

Municipalities, institutions of social and solidarity economy, research centres, and institutions of higher education will also be included in the plan. The plan, with an execution period of three years, also provides subsidies for the purchase of affordable housing and social intervention in the most disadvantaged areas, he said.

Global Covid-19 Report: The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 139.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.99 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 139,670,541 and 2,997,062, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 31,575,138 and 566,212, respectively, according to the CSSE.

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