“We are confident, at this moment as I speak, that the numbers presented and also highlighted by the Minister of State and Finance correspond to reality”, he stated.
The minister was speaking to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic after delivering the program of the XXV Constitutional Government to the first vice-president of parliament, social democrat Teresa Morais.
“It is not the first time that the Government finds itself in illustrious solitude with economic forecasts and then proves to be right, this happened last year”, he noted.
Carlos Abreu Amorim acknowledged changes due to ongoing global conflicts, including the recent escalation between Israel and Iran, and emphasized that one of the Government’s transformative agenda points “is to reinforce the strengthening of investment in Defense.”
“This was done according to our international commitments and even before the latest developments in international conflict, about which we are obviously very concerned. We have requested, which has already been done by the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, an effort of restraint from all parties”, the minister said.
In the State Budget for 2025, the Government had projected GDP growth of 2.1% but revised this estimate upwards in the Annual Progress Report, submitted to Brussels, to 2.4%.
Institutions have released more pessimistic forecasts, such as the Bank of Portugal, which strongly lowered its estimate for the growth of the Portuguese economy this year, from 2.3% to 1.6%.
