Public administration deficit “improves” by €2.862 billion, Ministry of Finance announces

A feather-in-the-cap for the government today as the election campaign approaches its final furlong: the Ministry of Finance has announced that 2021 closed with a deficit of €8.79 billion – an “improvement on the 2020 deficit” to the tune of €2.862 billion. The development comes from growth in receipts being 9.3% higher than expenditure. Finance minister João Leão is confident that the national deficit for last year will come in lower than the limit established of 4.3%, and “significantly better” than 2020’s deficit of 5.8%.