Scope raised Portugal one notch to A+ with a stable outlook on Friday, citing debt down to 89.2 percent of GDP. It also flagged house prices, pensions and a parliament without a majority.
The Council of Ministers approved cuts of 0.3 to 0.5 points across the first six brackets on Thursday, plus a pension supplement, a fuel-sector package and a national rail pass. The IRS piece went through as a bill, which means the Assembleia da República has to pass it first.
Parliament's budget office reports a two billion euro swing against last year, almost all of it a cash-basis effect from paying off overdue SNS supplier bills. Social Security, meanwhile, banked its strongest seven months in a decade.
The agency moved the long-term ratings up a notch on Friday evening and reset the outlook to Stable from Positive. Its own regression model produced the higher score and the committee applied no adjustment. Debt is forecast at 87 percent of GDP this year.
Resolução do Conselho de Ministros 175/2026 creates the Estrutura Nacional SAFE: a coordinator-general, three programme coordinators, two team leaders and fifteen technical staff, funded from inside the existing defence budget, with a mandate to 30 June 2031.
Portugal's Social Security ran a €2.885 billion surplus in the first four months of 2026, its best start in a decade, even as the broader public-administration deficit widened.
CGD pays the Portuguese State €1.25 billion on 26 June 2026 — €952.2M from the €1.98B 2025 net profit and €297.8M from reserves — the largest single-bank distribution in Portuguese history. The 29 May AGM also lifted social capital from €4.525B to €6B via reserves incorporation.
