Portugal: Budget surplus increases by €231M

Lisbon, PORTUGAL – The improvement was because of a 4.7% increase in tax revenues compared with the same period last year. This was greater than the increase in spending, which was 2.8%, the ministry said.

The primary surplus was just a fraction under €2 billion, some €482 million more than in 2017.

The revenues accompanies the favourable economic up-turn and higher employment the ministry added, explaining that until February tax revenues had increased 8.1%, despite a 20% increase in refunds worth more than €230 million.

Spending went up by 2.8%, “in line with the commitments in the 2018 budget”, with the Portuguese NHS hitting “post-troika maximums” the ministry said.