Budget deficit up €1.4Bn to April

Government measures currently being employed to offset the effects of Covid-19, and the inflationary effects of the war in Ukraine, have added an extra €1.4Bn onto the total public budget deficit to April, 2022.

This is according to a report by the Budget Support Technical Unit which monitors Portugal’s budget between January and April, and which was released on Tuesday.
The measures contained in Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) also contributed to this figure.
The financial advisors to the Portuguese parliament who advise MPs have shown that the Covid-19 offset measures have increased the overall balance by €1.2Bn “significantly reducing” it impact (-€1.052Bn) like-for-like on 2021 (€2.290 million).
The report also shows that expenditure on policy measures to offset the effects of inflation on family purchasing power, and on the production costs of certain manufacturing and sectors deteriorated Portugal’s budget position by €165 million.
Expenditure regarding the implementation of the RRP in the “grants” component was €54 million, “but its impact on the total balance is zero because up until the end of April, it was entirely financed by community grants (Next Generation EU)”.