Mário Centeno: “Europe believes in Portugal’s chosen path”

  • ECO News
  • 16 June 2017

The Finance minister says that a year ago no one believed Portugal would be able to leave the EDP. Today, "Europe believes in Portugal's chosen path", Mário Centeno states.

Mário Centeno states that a year ago, “not many” believed that Portugal would be able to leave the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). But that was precisely what happened this Friday: the European Council decided to revoke the procedure being enforced in Portugal since 2009, after the EC made that recommendation. The Finance minister also highlights that “Europe believes in Portugal’s chosen path” and that the Portuguese “trust a policy which brought growth to all”.

“A year ago, not many believed in the possibility we are witnessing today [exiting the EDP]. But I would like to reinforce this idea: yes, Portugal left the EDP, and that was only possible because of a distinguished policy”, states Mário Centeno. “A policy which was heavily criticized for many months, harming both the Government and Portugal’s image abroad”, the minister adds.

The Finance minister also states that “Europe believes in Portugal’s chosen path and the Portuguese trust a policy which brought growth to all; the Portuguese do not want to return to a policy which promoted the country’s impoverishment”.

“We perceive this decision [exiting the EDP] as an upgrade, as a positive review of Portugal. We expect that this movement — which is held by a consolidation of public finance, economic growth and a decrease in unemployment and significant increase in employment — will bring the country good news”, he states. This means that the Portuguese debt will be enhanced.

Mário Centeno says he is optimistic about the rating Fitch will give Portugal: “We all expect this new reality will reflect a new assessment from the agency. Obviously we cannot hide our positive expectations, but we need to wait, because reassessing a country is a slow process”.