The government expressed confidence today in achieving a budget surplus target of 0.3% of GDP this year, following the release of the budget execution up to July and the rating upgrade by S&P.
In a statement released after S&P’s decision to raise Portugal’s rating from ‘A’ to ‘A+’, the Ministry of Finance highlighted that the financial rating agency clearly attributes the rating improvement to Portugal’s prudent and solid fiscal policy, aligning with the government’s perspective of achieving a budget surplus this year.
The government also noted that “today, July’s budget execution in public accounting was revealed, showing the Public Administration recorded a surplus of about 2.3 billion euros,” representing an improvement of 300 million euros from the previous month and a year-over-year improvement of approximately 1.4 billion euros.
“With this performance, the government remains confident in meeting the budget target of a 0.3% GDP surplus in 2025,” reiterated the ministry led by Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
The Standard & Poor’s has once again raised the rating of the Portuguese Republic to A+ with a stable outlook, after already revising it upwards in February.
The decision reflects confidence in the budgetary and economic results achieved and the strength of Portuguese fiscal policy. pic.twitter.com/seqp7Y4r0A
— Finanças (@pt_financas) August 29, 2025
The government also emphasized that “currently, in the S&P rating, only nine Eurozone countries have a higher rating than Portugal (Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, France, Ireland, Belgium, and Slovenia),” stating that “countries like Spain and Italy currently have lower ratings.”
