Portugal

Portugal has benefited from market financing on relatively favorable terms since the end of their arrangement under the Fund’s Extended Fund Facility in 2014. The return to financial markets reflected the successful stabilization of Portugal’s economy under the program, and has been supported by the ECB’s accommodative monetary stance since early 2015. This has facilitated a steady improvement in the profile of public debt and enabled the authorities to make early repurchases to the Fund of €12.9 billion, more than 40 percent of the amount drawn during the arrangement. After a sluggish first half, the economy evidenced a welcome upturn in growth in the third quarter of 2016 driven by net exports. Despite the positive quarter, Portugal’s medium-term outlook remains impaired by high levels of corporate debt and persistent structural bottlenecks. The revised 2016 fiscal target appears within reach, but prospective public outlays for CGD’s recapitalization weighed on public debt at end-2016.