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Investing.com -- Portugal plans to maintain budget surpluses over the next four years despite high uncertainty from geopolitical and trade tensions, Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said Tuesday.
Speaking during a parliamentary debate on the centre-right minority government’s programme, Miranda Sarmento emphasized that global uncertainty makes "the basic assumption of balanced budgets even more critical" to protect Portugal from external shocks.
"We remain committed to budget surpluses in every year of the legislature ... and to reducing public debt," the minister said.
This statement comes after the Bank of Portugal warned on Friday that the country might return to deficits in the next three years. While Portugal has a surplus of 0.7% of gross domestic product in 2024, the central bank projected a shortfall of 0.1% of GDP this year, which would increase to 1.3% in 2026 before easing to 0.9% in 2027.
Miranda Sarmento contradicted these projections, stating the government "maintains the objective of having a surplus of 0.3% of GDP in 2025 and of reducing the public debt ratio to 91.5%" from 94.9% in 2024.
The finance minister also predicted that "this year - or in 2026 at the latest - Portugal will reach a public debt ratio below the euro zone average."
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