IMF pours cold water on Portugal’s budgetary forecasts

The International Monetary Fund doesn’t see Portugal growing as much as finance minister Fernando Medina has predicted in this year’s drdaft State Budget already submitted for approval to Brussels – and it doesn’t see the deficit reducing by as much either. Differences of opinion like these are commonplace and may, or may not, affect whatever the EU decides. In a nutshell, the IMF envisages growth of 4% (not Medina’s 4.9%) and the deficit coming in at 2.4% of GDP, not the much more streamlined 1.9% that Portugal’s new finance minister is standing by.