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Portugal's deficit plunges to 240 mln euros in Feb. from 549 mln euros in Jan.

Xinhua, March 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Portugal's deficit dropped to almost 240 million euros (about 262 million U.S. dollars) in February, the country's Budget General Directorate revealed on Tuesday.

According to the figures, the deficit in January was 549 million euros.

The improved results were due to revenue growth rising by 2.1 percent. According to the report, the country raised almost 6.4 million euros from January to February, mostly due to a rise in indirect taxation.

Portugal signed a 78-billion-euro bailout program in May 2011 with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The country had a clean exit from the bailout program in May last year.

The country's state budget for 2015 forecasts the public deficit to drop to 2.7 percent of GDP by the end of this year.

The Portuguese economy is improving, with its GDP expanding in the fourth quarter last year at the fastest rate in a year. However its debt still stands at around 125 percent of GDP. Endit