Portugal's budget surplus narrows slightly to 1% of GDP

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal posted a budget surplus of 1% of gross domestic product in the 12 months ended in September, down from a surplus of 1.2% a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute said on Monday.

In its quarterly update of public accounts data, the INE said public spending rose 2.1%, outpacing revenue growth of 1.5%.

In the 12 months through the end of the second quarter, Portugal had a surplus of 1.3% of GDP.

Since it took over in April, Portugal's centre-right government has increased pensions and public sector wages and cut some income taxes for the middle class, young people and companies in the hope of boosting growth.

The government expects a budget surplus of 0.4% of GDP for the whole of this year, down from 1.2% in 2023. It sees the surplus slightly shrinking to 0.3% of GDP in 2025.

The Bank of Portugal forecasts a budget gap of 0.6% this year, but expects a small deficit of 0.1% in 2025 mainly due to an increase in permanent net public expenditure.

The government sees the economy growing 1.8% this year and 2.1% in 2025.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip)

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