The Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition has indicated that growth in Portugal could see an increase of 5% by the end of the year, following strong third-quarter results.
Growth in Portugal up 5% in 2021
"I think economic growth will be closer to 5 % than 4 %," said Pedro Siza Vieira in an interview on the program Tudo é Economia of RTP3 on Tuesday evening.
Third-quarter results were in line with expectations, "although July did not see such rigorous growth, due to the pandemic situation that arose", he said. August, on the other hand, exceeded expectations in virtually all sectors of activity, including retail, restaurants and hotels.
For Pedro Siza Vieira, the pace of economic growth is meeting and perhaps even exceeding the government's expectations.
"We are convinced that, from the point of view of economic growth over the course of the year, we will exceed what was forecast. The economy is performing not only better than projected, but also better than most observers estimated a few months ago," he said.
The Minister recalled that there was "a very strict recovery of the economy", as demand is recovering very quickly, while health restrictions are being lifted due to the pandemic.
Last week, Finance Minister João Leão stated that the pandemic crisis had so far had an impact of 30 billion euros on Portuguese public debt, adding that it could reach 40 billion euros by next year. According to the Finance Minister, the private sector also saw its debt increase by around five billion euros last year.
In an interview on RTP3, the president explained that "the crisis has had a very significant impact on debt", particularly on state debt, estimating that the amount will reach "around 35 billion to 40 billion euros" by 2022. João Leão pointed out that by 2020, public debt had reached 133 %, which he felt "was a very high debt" for Portugal.
According to President Sarkozy, the debt reduction trajectory "will be based on the strong economic recovery" and at the same time, "essential in the context of very high indebtedness to give confidence to the stability and financial credibility the country needs".
"What is crucial is to present the debt on a trajectory of production because of the strong growth of the economy. This trajectory will give us all the ability to look to the future with optimism, not to look to the future with uncertainty and dark clouds," he asserted.
The Portugal was the fastest-growing country in Europe in the second quarter, with 15.5 1TP3Q. This is the quarter in which it has seen the most growth since the historical series. This is remarkable GDP growth in year-on-year terms and shows that it is confirmed for the third quarter with very positive indicators in place. With economic indicators such as retail sales and ATM payments. This shows that there is already a strong recovery in the country.
