It’s the second consecutive drop after three months in which figures just kept on climbing. October saw Portugal’s public debt drop by “almost €4 billion” say reports today, stressing that a decrease of this size hasn’t been seen since 2015.
The ‘good news’ has been helped along by early repayment of much of the heavy-on-interest IMF bailout loan, and sees the government predicting a year-end debt level of 126.2%.
The not-so-good news – as the financial press waits for official confirmation that Portugal’s finance minister Mário Centeno is the new head of the EU’s financial Eurogroup – is that public debt is still an eye watering €245.3 billion euros.
For the extraordinary metamorphosis of Mário Centeno – from “ugly duckling” through to “Super Mario” and on to the “Ronaldo of Ecofin” – see our paper edition, out on Thursday.
For further developments on the public debt front, predictions are for continued reduction in 2018 to reach the year-end in 12 months time at 123.5%.
