The Prime Minister admitted this Thursday, March 19, that Portugal could have a deficit in 2026 due to the “exceptionality” related to the impacts of the storms and the energy crisis and rejected “an obsession” to have a budget surplus that would impede support for the country.
“As I had already anticipated in the circumstances of the recovery process from the storms and now also with the exceptional nature of the energy market, I just want to say that, because we have had sustained economic growth and good budgetary performance in recent years, we can, eventually, have a deficit situation and, still, have balance in our public accounts”said Luís Montenegro.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Brussels upon arrival at the European Council meeting, Luís Montenegro admitted that the fact that Portugal could have a deficit this year “does not mean it is in an excessive deficit procedure or an imbalance procedure”, but rather that the Government will not cause “the country to be penalized in an exaggerated way for an obsession with having surpluses”.
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