Government close to pre-pandemic public debt

Portugal’s finance minister Fernando Medina believes that this year the public debt will fall, returning to pre-pandemic figures.

Without revealing concrete amounts, Medina says that this reduction which is the central goal of the government, should be around 120% of GDP.
“Today it is clear that we will achieve objectives in the financial matter of significantly reducing the public deficit and debt”, said the minister at the Millennium Talks conference in Porto.
“Achieving these objectives is of the greatest importance, particularly within the context of today”, he added.
Medina ambitions to take Portugal off the podium with the ‘top 3’ most indebted countries after Greece and Italy.
Despite saying that is “still too early for a final number, Medina indicated “we are very close to having pre-pandemic levels, meaning below the 120% barrier”.
In 2019, Portugal’s public debt fell to 118.2% of GDP. It stood at 127.40% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2021. In April 2022 it stood at €279Bn.