Portugal Aims to Narrow Budget Deficit to 1% as Economy Grows

Export growth seen slowing in government’s 2018 budget plan
Government plans to increase taxes on packaged salty food

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Anabela Reis and Henrique Almeida

October 14, 2017 at 12:38 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The Portuguese government aims to narrow its budget deficit to 1 percent of gross domestic product in 2018 as the economy is set to grow for a fifth year.

The deficit will be 1.4 percent in 2017, the Finance Ministry said late on Friday in a statement about the 2018 budget proposal. The debt ratio is forecast to drop for a second year to 123.5 percent of GDP in 2018 from 126.2 percent in 2017.