Portugal Budget 'will Boost Household Income, Business Competitiveness'
The Portugal News 11/10/2018
Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa, said that the state budget for 2019 is to include measures to improve household income and expand incentives for companies to reinvest profit, innovate and boost the skills of their employees, which he said would help boost overall competitiveness.
Costa was speaking at the opening of the fortnightly debate in Portugal's parliament, which took place five days before the deadline for the government to submit the draft state budget.
The minority Socialist government, which is backed by the Left Bloc and Communist Party in parliament, has reversed several austerity measures enacted by the previous right-of-centre government.
In advance of the budget, the government has been projecting 2.3% growth in gross domestic product for Portugal next year and a public sector budget deficit equivalent to 0.2% of GDP. Public indebtedness at the end of next year is on track to fall to 118.4% of GDP, according to its Stability Programme, submitted to the European Commission in April.
