Lisbon, May 15, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's finance minister, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, expects the country to reach the end of the year with a budget balance close to zero, avoiding a deficit, while factoring in the response to the winter storms and the impact of the Middle East war. “Against all expectations, we reported a 0.7% surplus in 2025, and this result allowed us to provide the response to the storms and to the conflict in Iran,” the minister said at the opening of a training session for more than 150 managers of the State-Owned Enterprise Sector organised in Lisbon by the finance ministry and the Portuguese Institute of Corporate Governance (IPCG).

“Portugal continues to show a very solid and sustainable budget trajectory,” he said, noting the government believes “it would be possible to reach the end of the year with a budget balance around zero, preventing the country from recording a deficit.”

The finance minister's statement comes after the government submitted its 2026 Annual Progress Report (RAP) to the European Commission on 30 April.

In that report, the executive projected a zero-budget balance for 2026 instead of a 0.1% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) surplus.

Furthermore, Miranda Sarmento had acknowledged on 26 March 2026 the possibility of recording a “small deficit” this year.

PCT/LYT // AYLS

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