Portugal's public debt falls by 3.9 bln euros in October
Xinhua,December 05, 2017 Adjust font size:
LISBON, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese government debt fell by 3.9 billion euros in October, the Bank of Portugal announced on Monday.
The Portuguese central bank reported that public debt now stands at 245.3 billion euros.
October's reduction was principally a consequence of the IGCP, Portugal's debt management agency, amortizing 3.5 billion worth of debt instruments.
Nearly 1 billion euros were shaved off the debt burden through early repayment of an International Monetary Fund loan.
In the opposite direction, the IGCP launched some 0.6 billion euros of new treasury bills.
A lowering of the public debt makes it more likely that Portugal would meet its 2017 debt targets.
When exiting the European Union (EU) Excessive Deficit Procedure program in May, Portugal was set a 2017 debt-to-GDP target of 127.7 percent. By the end of September, the ratio stood at 130.9 percent.
The EU uses slightly different parameters to measure national debt, the so-called Maastrict measurement. Nevertheless, a reduction in the central bank's headline rate bodes well. Enditem