The minister was speaking at the hearing at the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee, where he highlighted that "the figures for the 4th quarter were significantly good, with economic acceleration".

Although these are still provisional figures, they already indicate good performance at the end of last year and this "brings greater robustness to the growth forecast for 2025 of 2.1%", highlighted Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.

As for the indicators that are already known for the end of the year, "there was a significant acceleration in activity, both in the composite indicator and in private consumption, which accelerated significantly from October onwards compared to 2023".

Regarding the fiscal balance, he maintained that the Government estimates that 2024 will close with a surplus of 0.4% of GDP and the forecast for this year is a positive balance of 0.3%.

"The budget balance gives us complete confidence that we will end the year with a surplus of around 0.4% of GDP," the minister reinforced, at a time when only the Bank of Portugal estimates a deficit for this year.

This fiscal performance "means that public debt will continue to decline," the minister added.