IBERSOL • 2023 Integrated Management Report

STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK In China, recent data points to a stabilisation of economic activity, despite the fragility of the real estate sector. In the third quarter of 2023, real GDP growth recovered to 1.3% in quarter-on-quarter terms, mainly due to the increase in consumer spending, while the contrac- tion in property investment continued to deepen. The monthly indi- cators for industrial production and retail sales consolidated their re- covery in October. Overall inflation as measured by the CPI fell 0.2% year-on-year. Situation in Portugal Recent data from the Bank of Portugal indicates that the Portuguese economy grew by 2.1% in 2023, with forecasts pointing to a slowing to 1.2% in 2024 and a recovery in growth in the following years (2.2% in 2025 and 2.0% in 2026). Despite exceeding initial forecasts of 1.5% growth in 2023, the econ- omy stagnated in the second and third quarters and grew little in the fourth quarter, reflecting the weakness of external demand, the loss of purchasing power caused by inflation and the financing difficulties induced by the ECB’s restrictive monetary policy. Quarterly growth is expected to gradually recover throughout 2024, benefiting from the foreseeable improvement in the external eco- nomic environment, the rise in real incomes – with families benefiting from the fall in inflation and increased wages – and an improvement in the implementation of European funds. The Portuguese economy should continue to grow above the euro area, by an average of 0.5 pp between 2024 and 2026, based on the dynamism of investment and exports. In 2023, employment grew by 0.8%, with some slowdown in the sec- ond half of the year, and growth is expected to slow to 0.1% in 2024 and 0.3% in 2025. The unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly from 6.5% in 2023 to an average of 7.2% in 2024-26. On a downward path, inflation reached 2.6% in the last quarter of 2023 and is expected to rise throughout 2024 due to the temporary increase in the price of energy and foodstuffs. In annual average terms, 26