(in update)
Exports are expected to reach 50% of GDP in 2022. The forecast was advanced by the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, at a press conference scheduled for this Friday, with the aim of taking stock of the performance of the national economy in 2022 In addition to Costa Silva, the conference included the ministers of Finance, Fernando Medina, and of Labor and Social Welfare, Ana Mendes Godinho.
In the presentation made to Costa Silva, the minister highlighted the growth of exports in 2022, noting that in the first nine months of the year exports were 20.3% above 2021. 20,000 million euros of foreign sales That the last year. Only in the third quarter of 2022, exports of goods were 40% above 2019, the year before the pandemic, partly due to the rise in prices but also due to the conquest of new markets, highlighted Costa Silva.
In services, tourism will have broken the revenue record for 2019, with 18.4 billion euros, 14% above 2019.
The Government had set the goal of 50% of exports in GDP by 2027.
Regarding economic growth, the minister recalled the latest projections from the Bank of Portugal, which point to 6.8%, above the 6.6% forecast by Brussels and the 6.5% forecast by the Government. The minister added that the final figures for growth should remain in this range, with a GDP that would reach 210,000 million euros. A performance that the minister described as “remarkable” due to the “difficult external environment”, marked by the crisis of the pandemic, the war, the energy crisis, the prices of raw materials, inflation and interest rates. “The Portuguese economy is moving,” defended the minister.
Regarding the prospects for 2023, Costa Silva acknowledged that “we have to be clear and honest”, and that “we will have a slowdown in the economy, but there will be growth”, which the Bank of Portugal estimates in the order of 1, 8% Among the “confidence factors”, the minister highlighted the “excellent performance” of the economy in 2022 and the “remarkable public investment”.
Source: Observadora
