European Commission says Portugal could exit excessive deficit procedure

Portugal could exit its excessive deficit procedure in spring, the European Commission Vice-President for Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis said here on Friday.

Dombrovskis said during his two-day visit at the Portuguese parliament that the country could exit its excessive deficit if the European Commission confirms the positive statistics in an assessment in spring.

"Portugal outperformed the targets define last year," Dombrovskis said, while pointing out that the country's deficit and public debt must continue to fall.

Dombrovskis' official visit to Portugal comes after the European Commission on Wednesday released Portugal's country report, in which it warned that the country was still vulnerable to shocks despite the economy having improved in the past four years.

The Portuguese authorities say the country has managed to bring down its budget deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP, lower than Brussels' 2.5 percent target.

Portugal signed a 78 billion euros (82 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program with international lenders in 2011 when the county was on the verge of bankruptcy, which led to harsh austerity including tax hikes and spending cuts.

Dombrovskis stressed on Friday the need for Portugal to comply with the ambitious measures in its national reform program.

Portuguese Socialist MP Eurico Brilhante Dias pointed out that the country exiting the excessive deficit procedure was Portugal's objective and that it hoped to receive "good news from Brussels in the near future."

Isabel Pires from the left bloc said the favorable economic figures were due to a rupture of policies of the previous administration and defended the need for debt restructuring. Endit