‘2023 won’t be easy’, says President
The head of state was commenting, in Leiria, on the report with world economic forecasts released today by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The president of Portugal acknowledged on Tuesday that 2023 would be “a tough year” when commenting on OECD projections that point to Portuguese economic growth slowing from 6.7% this year to 1% in 2023.
“2023 is going to be a tough year. Nobody knows how difficult. It depends on how long the war in Ukraine lasts, it depends on whether the effects of the war remain very high or not, it depends on whether inflation starts to fall or grow, it depends on whether the problems of energy and the cost of energy are solved,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said, considering that “everyone is aware that it is going to be worse than 2022”.
The head of state was commenting, in Leiria, on the report with world economic forecasts released today by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
In the document, the OECD predicted that Portugal’s economic growth would slow from 6.7% this year to 1% in 2023 and 1.2% in 2024, with inflation at 8.3% in 2022, 6.6% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024.
“Real GDP [Gross Domestic Product] growth is expected to decline from 6.7% in 2022 to 1% in 2023 and 1.2% in 2024, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, rising energy prices and rising interest rates penalising activity,” reads the report on the world economic forecast.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he had recently received the president of a major automotive industry group who told him that “the sale of cars in America and Europe had started to slow down, and he predicted that the economic situation would be a problem in the first half of next year”.
“But nobody knew if it was just one semester, if it was more than one semester if it was intense or shallow. But there is an economic problem that will hit”, he said, considering that “it will probably hit other economies in the world”.
