search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Reports


MARKET REPORT: PORTUGAL


Safe harbour from the storm


Portugal has proved to be remarkably resilient, bouncing back from the global economic crisis and into a boom in tourism which, thanks to several tax reduction measures, has seen the country transform itself from Europe’s struggling poor relation to nouveau riche


At one point Portugal was linked with the likes of Spain, Greece and Ireland during the financial crisis as a country which was suffering in particular. But after a decade of doom and gloom, recession and stagnation today the country has returned to a robust economic growth and a budget deficit which is the lowest since democracy was restored in 1974.


In 2011 Portugal obtained a €78bn bailout from Europe and the IMF. Its economy contracted by as much as 3.2 per cent in 2012 whilst unemployment was around 18 per cent with around 40 per cent youth unemployment.


After several economic and fiscal reforms Portugal freed itself from international assistance in 2014 and since then the economy has been flourishing and the IMF forecast a 2.5 per cent growth for 2017 and an unemployment


P46 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM


rate of 10 per cent. Much of the recovery is said to be down to the European Central Bank’s policies, with the ECB has kept the Euro low supporting exports.


Te government, now led by socialist Antonio Costa, has rolled back many austerity measures including pension and salary cuts and says the key to economic growth is fostering private consumption. Public sector wages, working hours and holidays have been restored to pre- bailout levels along with state pensions.


Te country isn’t out of the woods yet and some say Portugal is still one of the most vulnerable economies. Te government debt is set to reach 128.5 per cent of GDP this year whilst Portugal’s deficit forecast for 2018 is 1.4 per cent.


Te country has several proposals for the 2018


budget which aims to reduce the budget deficit to one per cent of GDP, raise the number of tax brackets from five to seven to ease the tax burden for some earners whilst also introducing higher taxes for certain packaged foods with high salt content.


Now the country looks set to be in its strongest position in almost 20 years and unemployment is falling at one of the fastest rates in Europe.


Sharing a 1,224km border with Spain, the majority of the Portuguese population is concentrated along the Atlantic coast. Tere are 18 districts in Portugal and Lisbon and Porto are major cities.


Tourism is of course a huge part of Portugal’s economy and this directly contributed some €12.8bn to the GDP in 2016.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84