Lisbon, July 22, 2024 (Lusa) - According to a study by credit management company Intrum, the payment period for the government and public sector has fallen from an average of 72 days in 2023 to 65 days in 2024.
The conclusions are from the European Payment Report 2024, with the Government and Public Sector and Construction categories being the only ones among the 15 analysed to have seen a reduction this year compared to 2023.
‘All other sectors saw an increase in the average number of days it takes to pay their suppliers,’ says a statement accompanying the report, which details that in construction the average period fell by four days to 57 days.
The report notes that in Portugal the time taken to pay suppliers is ‘well above what would be ideal’, with only the pharmaceutical, medicine and biotechnology sector ‘below fifty days, paying its suppliers in 49 days on average’.
Among the sectors with the longest delays in paying suppliers are transport and logistics (75 days, 13 more than a year ago), energy and utilities (70 days, eight more) and mining and minerals, telecommunications and technology and media, all with an average delay of 68 days.
The biggest variations compared to 2023 are insurance (up 21 days to 62 days), hotels and leisure (up 14 days to 63 days), and telecommunications and retail, both up 13 days on the previous year.
Quoted in the statement, Intrum's director general, Luís Salvaterra, pointed out that ‘despite some positive signs, there are clear signs of a deterioration in payment discipline that profoundly affects the respective financial health of national companies’.
‘Suppliers who get paid late may find it difficult to pay their own suppliers on time, and so on. Every organisation must do more to avoid this vicious circle,’ he insisted.
Intrum praised the intervention of the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, in the State of the Nation debate, in which he argued for the state to pay more quickly.
‘This is a positive decision that will certainly further reduce the average number of days it takes the government and the public sector to pay their suppliers, allowing payments to be speeded up. We hope that the other sectors of activity will follow suit,’ he added.
At the beginning of July, the government announced the ‘State to pay in 30 days’ plan, one of the measures set out in the Government Programme. This plan became part of a package of 60 measures to boost the Portuguese economy.
JO/ADB // ADB.
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