Lisbon – Prime minister Antonio Costa condemned the right-wing PSD and CDS-PP coalition for resorting to “guerrilla warfare” and “being unable to present a chance of policy that the Socialist Party, the Left Bloc, Communist Party and Green Party were able to build.”
Speaking at a quarterly debate in parliament on Wednesday, he said the country had seen more growth and employment and a lower deficit and debt since the Socialist party was in power.
Portugal has seen strong recovery since the 2011-2014 financial crisis and the ruling Socialist government has been rolling back austerity over the past three years, with the economy supported by foreign investment, tourism and rising exports.
Portugal’s government has said that it expects public debt as a share of gross domestic product to drop to 118.5% by the end of next year, from 121.2% at the end of this year.
Its state budget for 2019, which was approved last month, foresees next year’s deficit at 0.2% of GDP, after this year’s projected 0.7%.
