Portugal First Post-Program Monitoring

Notwithstanding past structural reform efforts aimed at improving competitiveness, the slow expansion despite the high labor slack suggests that the unfinished agenda is substantial. Corporate debt is also excessively high, acting as a brake on investment and job creation. While the fiscal targets f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: International Monetary Fund European Dept
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. International Monetary Fund 2015
Series:IMF Staff Country Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: International Monetary Fund - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 04262nmm a2200661 u 4500
001 EB001308600
003 EBX01000000000000000893212
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 161223 ||| eng
020 |a 9781498373258 
245 0 0 |a Portugal  |b First Post-Program Monitoring 
260 |a Washington, D.C.  |b International Monetary Fund  |c 2015 
300 |a 66 pages 
651 4 |a Portugal 
653 |a Public debt 
653 |a Banks 
653 |a Finance 
653 |a Public finance & taxation 
653 |a Industries: Financial Services 
653 |a Banks and banking 
653 |a Fiscal Policy 
653 |a Debts, Public 
653 |a Labor markets 
653 |a Mortgages 
653 |a Labor 
653 |a Macroeconomics 
653 |a Banking 
653 |a Income economics 
653 |a Depository Institutions 
653 |a Minimum wage 
653 |a Labour 
653 |a Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General 
653 |a Debt Management 
653 |a Micro Finance Institutions 
653 |a Debt 
653 |a Fiscal policy 
653 |a Demand and Supply of Labor: General 
653 |a Minimum wages 
653 |a Sovereign Debt 
653 |a Loans 
653 |a Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy 
653 |a Banks and Banking 
653 |a Labor Economics: General 
653 |a Labor market 
653 |a Wages 
653 |a Public Finance 
653 |a Labor economics 
710 2 |a International Monetary Fund  |b European Dept 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b IMF  |a International Monetary Fund 
490 0 |a IMF Staff Country Reports 
028 5 0 |a 10.5089/9781498373258.002 
856 4 0 |u https://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2015/021/002.2015.issue-021-en.xml?cid=42671-com-dsp-marc  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 330 
520 |a Notwithstanding past structural reform efforts aimed at improving competitiveness, the slow expansion despite the high labor slack suggests that the unfinished agenda is substantial. Corporate debt is also excessively high, acting as a brake on investment and job creation. While the fiscal targets for 2014 seem well within reach, significantly more ambitious expenditure reforms will be needed to comply with the government’s own medium-term budget framework. Recently regained policy credibility and benign market conditions provide a welcome but only limited window of opportunity to press ahead with necessary reforms. With elections due by October 2015, building consensus around these reforms will prove difficult in the short term.  
520 |a In this context, discussions focused on three key areas necessary to maintaining economic and financial stability and improving medium- term growth prospects: (i) enhancing competitiveness through further reforms to improve the functioning of labor and product markets, and making progress on corporate deleveraging; (ii) safeguarding financial sector stability in a low profitability and low growth environment; and (iii) ensuring fiscal stability in a low profitability and low growth environment; and (iii) ensuring fiscal sustainability against the backdrop of vulnerable debt dynamics and large financing needs 
520 |a The three year Fund-supported program that expired at end-June 2014 succeeded in stabilizing Portugal’s economy and restoring access to sovereign debt markets. Following the deep downturn of 2011–12, the economy has expanded in six of the last seven quarters, albeit at a moderate pace. The cumulative fiscal consolidation over the past three years has been substantial, and the current account is now in surplus. Regained policy credibility and benign market conditions have facilitated the resumption of market access at declining yields. But private consumption is driving the recovery, while the necessary rebalancing of the economy remains elusive. With post-crisis labor slack still extensive, attaining higher growth through private investment and export-led growth continues to be constrained by high corporate debt and weak external competitiveness. Moreover, the momentum for reforms and fiscal adjustment appears to have flagged over the past six months.