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Extracto de um artigo de opinião publicado nesta data por Landon Thomas Jr.

no jornal The New York Times,

o qual pode ser acedido clicando aqui:

"(...) That Greece and Portugal are among those in the worst trouble is well known, with both likely to be ensnared in a trap of stubbornly high debt, weak competitiveness and stagnant growth for years. Less remarked upon is that their savings rates — 6 percent of gross domestic product for Greece and 7.5 percent for Portugal — are the lowest by far among developed countries. By comparison Italy has a savings rate of 17.5 percent, Spain 20 percent and France and Germany at 19 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

For Athens and Lisbon, it is a toxic combination: low reserves of capital at a time that the cost of new debt is increasing, while their ability to generate tax revenue needed to pay for these obligations is shrinking because of tough austerity measures.

Portugal’s debt, at just under 90 percent of gross domestic product, is lower than Greece’s 113 percent level. The government in Lisbon has taken pre-emptive steps to cut spending and raise taxes.

Portugal, perhaps even more than Greece, has suffered in this respect. Portuguese exporters have been losing market share to competitors since entering the common currency in 2000. That, in turn, has pushed the government to borrow from abroad to finance the current account deficit, thus pushing debt to current levels.

More serious, Portugal, unlike Greece, Ireland and Spain, did not experience the positive effects of the long period of growth reflecting low interest rates and has not experienced any improvement of its G.D.P. per capita over the past 15 years.

Accordingly, analysts say, it will be all the more difficult for Portuguese politicians to explain to their already pinched populace that more sacrifices — from public-sector wage cuts to higher value-added taxes — are necessary.

Fitch has already downgraded the country’s debt over doubts that Portugal can cut its deficit of 9 percent of G.D.P. Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, warned Portugal this week that further steps were needed to cut its deficit. (...)»

Etiquetas: dívida externa portuguesa, Economia, economia portuguesa, finanças públicas, PIB

# Escrito por Jorge M. Langweg @ 10:39 da tarde