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Portugal's consumer confidence at 13-year high

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Portuguese consumer confidence reached a 13-year high in March, the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed on Monday.

Consumer confidence index rose from -21.2 in February to -19.2 in March, according to the monthly data, marking its highest level since April 2002.

The consumer confidence indicator rose due to "the positive contribution of all the components, more expressive in the case of expectations relating to the evolution of unemployment," according to the report.

"Portuguese families prove to be more positive about the country's economic situation and about the financial position of the household, realizing they have a greater availability to purchase durable goods," the report reads.

According to the INE, the economic climate indicator, which measures business confidence, rose from 0.3 in February to 0.6 in March.

The INE also revealed on Monday that Portugal's unemployment rate rose to 14.1 percent in February, from 13.8 percent the previous month.

The figures come after the Bank of Portugal recently upgraded its economic forecast earlier this month, predicting GDP to grow 1.7 percent this year and 1.9 percent in 2016.

Portugal ended in May last year the 78-billion-euro (84.40 U.S. dollars) bailout program it signed with the troika of international lenders -- the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank -- when it was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2011.

Portugal's economy is finally improving, with GDP expanding in the fourth quarter at the fastest rate in a year, but the country is still struggling to reduce its public debt, which still stands at around 130 percent of GDP. Enditem