Centeno asks Montenegro not to spend all the surplus – otherwise Portugal will suffer more in the “next crisis”

The new government will encounter a budget surplus scenario. And the Bank of Portugal revised growth upwards for this year

The governor of the Bank of Portugal (BdP), Mário Centeno, said this Friday that Portugal’s financial cushion must be preserved to prevent a future crisis. Mário Centeno asks that the surplus not be consumed immediately.

“The forecast we bring here today brings good news, but the conduct of economic policy must preserve the financial margin between the country and the next crisis”, said Mário Centeno this Friday, in Lisbon, during the presentation of the March Economic Bulletin .

According to Centeno, it is certain that there will be a crisis in the future, whenever it may be, so the country “cannot miss the opportunity, in a period of economic growth, to continue preparing for the future”.

“The financial margin that exists must be put at the service of the future and not consumed in the present”, he stated.

The Bank of Portugal released the March Economic Bulletin today, revising upwards the growth forecast for the Portuguese economy to 2% this year, compared to what it expected in December, above what was recorded in the OE2024 and what was expected by the prime minister-designate, Luís Montenegro.

It is even more optimistic about the rate of decline in inflation, predicting that the rate will fall to 2.4% this year, despite temporary effects on food and energy prices, it was announced this Friday.