“The weight of exports in GDP moved from just 28% in 2008 to a weight that is estimated at 41%” at the end of 2013, said the Minister of Economy of Portugal, adding that it “may exceed 52% in 2020”.
The Center for Study Conjuncture of the Portuguese Economy (NECEP) of the Catholic University of that country, advanced that the economy of the Portuguese nation would have grown 1.3% during the last quarter of 2013. In its estimate also indicates that variation in the prior quarter would have been 0.3%.
Similarly, the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed that the indicator of economic activity in the country recorded an increase of 1.6% in November, three-tenths more than the previous month. This indicator is based on the production, manufacture, consumption, sales and employment rates in the nation.
This information “convinces us that we can see the future with optimism”, said Portuguese Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho. In this regard, the Minister of Economy, Antonio Pires de Lima, affirmed that “2014 will be the first year of investment growth in Portugal, in many years”. Additionally, the Minister commented that it is possible that the Portuguese economy “grow more than the forecast that was made when we presented the State Budget”.
