The Portuguese Minister of Finance announced, on Tuesday, that the Portuguese government revised its forecast for economic growth for this year by an increase to 6.4%, compared to the previous estimate of 4.9% included in the state budget for 2022.The Portuguese economy is expected to grow by 6.4%. This is the strongest growth in the European UnionHe said at a press conference to explain in detail the measures of 2.4 billion euros announced the day before to help families cope with inflation.
These support measures for families will add to the envelope of 1.6 billion in aid already disbursed through September. The Finance Minister emphasized that this effort would not force the Portuguese government to revise its public deficit target for 2022, which has been maintained at 1.9% of GDP. The public debt will beless than 120%‘, versus an earlier estimate of 120.7%, Mr. Medina confirmed.
Coming soon help for companies
After growing 2.5% in the first quarter, compared to the previous three months, Portugal’s GDP stagnated in the second quarter. On an annual basis, it rose 11.8% from January to March, then increased by 7.1% from April to June.
The package of measures announced on Monday evening to mitigate the impact of inflation includes in particular a reduction in energy taxes, direct assistance to families and an extraordinary increase in pensions. The government plans to announce soon aid for companies that will be suspended after the meeting of European energy ministers, Friday in Brussels, dedicated to the rise in electricity prices.
In August, consumer prices in Portugal rose 9% in one year, their strongest rise in nearly thirty years, according to a provisional estimate from the National Institute of Statistics.
