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Brussels asked not to sanction Portugal for excessive deficit budget

Xinhua, May 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Portugal's former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho contacted the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, this week to convince Brussels not to sanction Portugal for its excessive deficit budget, Portuguese financial daily Diario Economico reported on Friday.

Maria Luis Albuquerque, former finance minister, also wrote a letter to Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, asking for understanding and pointing out that the current Socialist government is to blame for the figures, Diario Economico revealed.

"It is extremely important to clarify... whether or not sanctions should be applied to Portugal under the Procedure for Excessive Deficits," Luis Albuquerque said in the letter dated April 12, adding that the negative impact of bank Banif should not be included in last year's deficit.

Eurostat revealed in April that Portugal's deficit was the third highest in the Eurozone, ending 2015 at 4.4 per cent, due to resolution costs of bank Banif. The country missed its deficit target last year of 2.7 per cent and is above the EU ceiling of 3 per cent.

Portugal's public debt rose to 129 per cent of GDP at the end of 2015, equivalent to 231.36 billion euros (261.67 billion U.S. dollars). Endit