Debt to hit 130.8% of GDP, deficit of 4.8% this year

  • ECO News e Lusa
  • 13 October 2021

IMF expects that Portugal will end this year with a deficit of 4.8% and public debt of 130.8% of GDP.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that Portugal will end this year with a deficit of 4.8% and public debt of 130.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), an upward revision of its Budget Monitor, a document released today.

The figures released this Tuesday also point to a deficit reduction to 3.0% in 2022 and of public debt to 125.7%.

On Monday, the Portuguese government presented its forecasts, prepared within the scope of the 2022 budget, which point to a deficit of 4.3% this year and 3.2% next year, and public debt of 126.9% and 122.8% of GDP, respectively.

The IMF’s forecasts stretch to 2026, when Portuguese public debt, according to the institution’s budget department – headed by former finance minister Vítor Gaspar – expects the debt level to be lower than the period before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2026 the Portuguese public debt should reach 114.7% of GDP, below the 116.6% with which it ended 2019.

Meanwhile, in 2023 the ratio of national public debt to its economy should be 122.8%, falling to 119.9% in 2024 and 117.1% in 2025.

In other institutions, forecasts for public debt in 2021 range from the 128.7% of GDP estimated by the Public Finance Council in September to 133.4% by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

(Article last updated at 2:30 pm)