According to the latest World Economic Outlook by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Portugal is forecast to see a 4% rise in annual Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year.
The projection is relatively optimistic when compared with those for other advanced economies, such as Japan (2.4%), Korea (2.5%) and Germany (2.1%). However, the country is expected to fall behind its neighbor, Spain, which is projected to see 4.8% growth in Real GDP.
Another Lusophone country, Brazil, is expected to have only 0.8% growth in Real GDP.
The indicator for inflation, Consumer Price Index, was also presented in the outlook, which suggested that Brazil will see an 8.2% surge this year. In contrast to that, Portugal is estimated to see about half of Brazil’s rise in consumer prices, at 4%.
An economic downturn is sweeping through the globe and turning into recession in some places. The Covid-19 pandemic was seen by many to be the major culprit of the challenge.
An earlier report by the Times highlighted that, according to the same IMF outlook, Macau will see 15.5% growth in Real GDP this year.
The IMF emphasized that the projections for the current year are based on the authorities’ approved budget, as adjusted to reflect the IMF staff’s macroeconomic forecast. Projections thereafter are based on the assumption of unchanged policies. AL
