António Costa announced that the 2017 deficit stood at 1.2%, below the Government’s forecast of 1.4%

The Portuguese prime minister announced, this Monday, that the 2017 deficit should stand at 1.2% of GDP and public debt should be 126.2%. This is the first time António Costa has spoken of a 1.2% deficit, after having stated, in December, that it should stand below 1.3%, which was already lower than the Government’s initial forecast — 1.4% of GDP.

António Costa stated that “2017 was an economic year with a lot of good news, in which we had the largest economic growth since the beginning of the century, as well as a strong decrease in unemployment”.

In regards to the Portuguese macro-economy, the prime minister stated the strong growth of the Portuguese economy was justified mainly by private investment and an increase in exports. The Portuguese PM stated he believes the economy “is facing a new paradigm“, in a context of a progression “in the trajectory of the deficit and public debt, which should stand at 126.2% of our GDP, in December, and a deficit below 1.5% which should stand at 1.2% of product”.

Now, Costa says “Portugal needs to look at 2018 with new eyes and understand how this growth can be sustained”.