The Public Finance Council's September update sees faster growth and pay, prices up 3.2 percent on fuel, deficits from 2027, and job growth fading to zero by 2030 as fewer new workers arrive.
The Tribunal de Contas rejected the government's claim that its review delayed and inflated the new Eastern Lisbon Hospital, saying it approved the €800 million public-private contract in just 27 working days.
Portugal ran a general government deficit of 1.1% of GDP (€570.9 million) in the first quarter of 2026, according to INE — better than the 2.1% the parliamentary budget office had forecast, as income-tax and social-contribution revenue held up.
A report to Parliament's budget unit UTAO puts the state's contingent liabilities from public-private partnerships at EUR1.342 billion, with motorway concessions accounting for 92.6% of the exposure.
The Conselho das Finanças Públicas reversed its 2026 forecast from a 0.6% deficit to a 0.1% surplus, but baked in €1.2 billion in war and climate costs and flagged a return to deficits from 2027 — as succession hunt begins for CFP president Nazaré Costa Cabral.
