Portugal meets the European Union’s budgetary rules and maintains its public debt on a downward path, said the Minister of State and Finance Joaquim Miranda Sarmento at the Budget, Finance, and Public Administration Commission hearing in Parliament on 13 May.

According to Miranda Sarmento, public debt is lowering at a faster pace than that set in the European rules and “Portugal meets the budgetary rules and is not at risk of an EDP (excessive deficit procedure)”.

When questioned on the need the amend the current State Budget, the Minister discarded this scenario: “Today we do not anticipate the need of having an amending budget”.

Joaquim Miranda Sarmento explained that the evolution of public expenditure is monitored via several indicators, but compliance with the European rules is assessed via the control account, a mechanism that measures whether deviations on the trajectory set for expenditure are within the limits allowed by the European Union.

The Minister also noted that the new European budgetary rules framework still calls for technical clarification, explaining that “the European Commission is still working on the methodology” and that the Government is still in talks on this matter with the EU institution through an open and continuous dialogue.