Lisbon City Council €676M in debt

Lisbon City Council ended 2020 with debts totalling €676 million, €52 million less than in 2019.

“The Lisbon municipality is well prepared to confront the demanding post-pandemic times ahead, as it once again managed to reduce its debt by the end of 2020, thereby increasing its debt capacity if necessary in order to face the difficult years that lie ahead,” states the office of Lisbon City Council Deputy Mayor, João Paulo Saraiva.
The city council adds that in 2020 it achieved a new minimum value of its current liabilities, €328 million, reducing this amount by €21 million on 2019.
It means that the total debt of the municipality presided over by Mayor Fernando Medina (PS party) had gone down by €52 million in 2020 compared to the previous year, it now standing at around €676 million.
According to its annual financial report presented last year by deputy mayor João Paulo Saraiva who is also its finances officer, Lisbon’s total debt in 2019 stood at €867 million and its current debt (without provisions and deferments) was €381 million.
Debt to suppliers stood at €2.8 million in 2020. In 2006 it had reached its maximum level of €459 million.
Regarding the average time it takes to pay service suppliers, this went up by one day (2019) to two days (2020).
In 2006 suppliers had to wait a maximum record of 324 days to get paid, being reduced over the years to invoices now always being cleared within five days.
Lisbon City Council’s final accounts for 2020 will be officially be presented shortly, but, says the council, they will be affected by a natural fall in revenues and increase in expenditure as a result of the pandemic, requiring financial draws on the contingency reserves.
Nevertheless, says the council, its finances are in “good health”.