PORTUGAL HAS the worst economic projections for the European Union according to an EU Commission report on public finance sustainability.
The report says the reform of the country’s social security system, announced by the government, will mean that the social security system will not collapse in Portugal in the coming years but is in long-term jeopardy.
However, the document also said that profound changes and reform would continue to be necessary.
According to the EU, Portugal has the worst forecast in Europe in terms of growth in public expenditure on pensions and health. The document confirmed that if the government did not take drastic reform action now the entire social security network would collapse by 2050.
By that time, the level of public debt could reach an intolerable 528.2 per cent of the country’s gross national product (GNP).
But, even if Portugal succeeds in eliminating its public debt and achieves growth rates of two per cent, the public debt would still hover around 60 per cent of the GNP by 2030.
