Public debt, Portugal’s rating and 3 other things you need to know to start the day
This Friday, S&P releases Portugal’s rating, at the same time that the Bank of Portugal reveals the volume of national public debt. Outside, it’s a day to learn about inflation and unemployment in the Euro Zone.
| Public debt in focus |
| The Bank of Portugal reveals Portugal’s public debt in January, after in 2023 it fell by 9.4 billion euros to 263.0 billion euros. |
| S&P evaluates Portugal’s rating |
| Standard and Poor’s evaluates Portugal’s rating this Friday. In September, the agency maintained Portugal’s sovereign debt rating in the third-to-last grade of the quality investment category (i.e., three levels above “junk”), but improved the “outlook” from “stable” to “positive”. |
| Inflation and unemployment on the Eurozone radar |
| Eurostat publishes inflation data for the Eurozone in February. In January, this indicator – considered essential for determining the direction of the ECB’s monetary policy – slowed to 2.8%. The European Union’s statistics office also releases unemployment figures for January, after the Euro Zone closed last year with an unemployment rate of 6.4%. |
| Industrial production also focuses attention |
| INE releases industrial production indices for January. In December, the index sank by 5%, having fallen by 2.8% in the year to date, after having risen by 1.6% in 2022. This day will also serve to find out the index numbers for turnover, employment, remuneration and hours worked in commerce at the beginning of the year. |
| EDP reacts to the 2023 accounts |
| EDP shares will be reacting this Friday to the electricity company’s results in 2023, reported yesterday after the close of the national stock exchange. |
