Budget balance rises to 1% of GDP in Portugal

Portugal's budget balance reached 1 percent of gross domestic product in the first three quarters of 2019, better than the forecast of a government deficit of 0.1 percent for the whole year of 2019, according to the latest data from Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE).

"In the first three quarters of 2019, the balance of General Government (GG) was positive, corresponding to 1.0 percent of GDP," compared with 0.4 percent in the same period of the previous year, said the INE.

The INE pointed out that the GG balance was nil in the year ending in the third quarter.