Costa Silva notes ‘excellent’ performance of Portuguese economy in 1st quarter

This Friday, the economy minister underlined the economy’s “excellent” performance through March, saying that 2.5% and 1.6% annual growth in the chain, as well as a 13.3% increase in exports, provide “excellent confidence conditions.” “.

“The results that INE today [Instituto Nacional de Estatística] the announced “indicators” of the Portuguese economy in the first quarter of this year are excellent. The 2.5% year-on-year growth is comparable to the first quarter of last year, when the economy showed very positive results, and the growth of the network is also another indicator of great confidence in the economic activity of the country,” António Costa Silva said in statements to Lusa.

The minister also underlined the 13.3% increase in exports in the first quarter, also published this Friday by INE: “We continue to grow strongly, also through exports, and this provides more confidence in the performance of the Portuguese economy this year. “, he asserted.

Costa Silva in the current “scenario of great uncertainty at the international level, confidence in the reaction of the Portuguese economy is reassuring.”

Luce, the Minister of Economy and the Sea, also underlined the positive indicators of confidence indicators.

“The indicator of the climate of economic confidence has increased, and with it the consumer confidence, which gives the Government the conditions, as the Government does, to use all possible tools to help families, companies and pensioners,” he said.

For António Costa Silva, after Portugal’s gross domestic product (GDP) topped 210,000 million euros for the first time last year, “with ambition” it is possible that the country will reach “within a few years 250,000 million euros.” and “at the end of the decade” reach 300,000 million euros.

Regarding the slowdown in domestic demand recorded in the first quarter, the official said he was “convinced” that this indicator “will also increase and have a positive trend” in the coming months, expressing a decrease in inflation.

“When we look at inflation, the preliminary estimate that INE indicates is about 5.7% in April, and therefore, if this is confirmed, this is the sixth month in a row that inflation has been declining. March was 7.4%, so here we are there is a noticeable drop and we are seeing a decline in energy products and some food products,” he said, adding, “I believe this will also create conditions for the development of domestic consumption.”

Costa Silva also underlined the fact that the country registered “for the first time in recent times a trade surplus in the first quarter” as a result of import growth (8.7%) lower than export growth (13.3%).

“We need to be a country that includes more and more national content in exports and uses all of its resources, which can reduce some of the dependence we still have on foreign countries,” he said.

Whereas Portugal is “on the right track” by now pursuing a “strong public policy to secure this path”, the minister said he “strongly believes in the ‘performance’ exceeding” the 1.8% growth target set by government for this. year.

“The Portuguese economy has shown to be highly resilient and it is this enthusiasm that I see in many sectors that could catapult us to above-expected growth. It happened in the first quarter, let’s now see what happens in the next quarter. second quarter,” he concluded.

GDP rose 2.5% year-over-year in the first quarter and 1.6% year-on-year, according to an INE update released this Friday.

The INE estimate exceeds that of several economists, who point to an annual growth of the Portuguese economy from January to March from 1% to 2.3% and a chain evolution from 0.1% to 1.4%.

According to the Statistical Institute, “The contribution of domestic demand to GDP change on an annualized basis remained positive in the first quarter, but lower than in the previous quarter, as a result of a slowdown in private consumption and reduced investment, driven by the negative contribution of inventory changes.”

On the contrary, there was an “acceleration of exports of goods and services and a slowdown of imports of goods and services”, so that “the positive contribution of net external demand was greater than in the previous quarter”.

In the first quarter, the INE reports a “significant year-over-year import deflator slowdown, more intense than the export deflator,” leading to an increase in trade that has not been seen since the first quarter. quarter from 2021.