Portugal with 3rd highest deficit, 2nd highest debt in 2015

Portugal had the third highest deficit in the European Union (EU) in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 (4.4%) and the second highest public debt (129%), Eurostat said.

The EU statistics office said that the 4.4% deficit in Portugal was the third highest after Greece (7.5%) and Spain (5.1%).

The other three countries with deficits of over 3% of GDP were the UK (4.3%), France (5.1%) and Croatia (3.3%).

In terms of public debt, Italy had the highest ratio (177.4% of GDP), followed by Portugal (129%), Cyprus (107.5%) and Belgium (105.8%).

Portugal and Spain are under the excessive deficit procedure and run the risk of having structural and investment funds suspended, even though the fines have been suspended.

Original