Portugal: Staff Report for the 2008 Article IV Consultation

IMF Staff Country Reports, October 3, 2008

Source details

Canonical URL

Portugal: Staff Report for the 2008 Article IV Consultation

Other formats

• Markdown version
• Structured JSON version
• Bundle manifest

Bibliographic details

• Published: October 3, 2008
• Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451832303.002

Executive summary

• Portugal’s 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that Portugal’s financial system remains sound and well supervised.
• Portugal has accumulated substantial macroeconomic imbalances.
• The policy challenge is to smooth the adjustment by:
  • containing domestic demand, and
  • increasing productivity and flexibility,
  • thus rebalancing growth to the external sector.
• Weaker global conditions should be taken as a reason to:
  • strengthen efforts to reignite the stalled convergence process, and
  • continue fiscal consolidation and reform.
• Publication date: October 3, 2008.

Financial sector assessment

• The report finds the financial system remains sound and well supervised.
• Emphasis on continued supervision and resilience in the face of weaker global conditions.

Macroeconomic imbalances and external rebalancing

• Identified problem: substantial macroeconomic imbalances accumulated in Portugal.
• Recommended strategy:
  • Smooth the adjustment process,
  • Contain domestic demand,
  • Increase productivity and flexibility,
  • Rebalance growth toward the external sector.

Policy recommendations

• Use weaker global conditions as impetus to:
  • Strengthen efforts to reignite the stalled convergence process,
  • Continue fiscal consolidation and reform.
• Focus areas implied by subjects and keywords:
  • Balance of payments, Current account and Current account deficits,
  • Banking and Financial markets,
  • Competition and Labor market flexibility,
  • Public debt management and savings-investment balance,
  • Measures affecting employment growth, GDP, investment, and securitized loan markets.

Subjects and keywords

• Subject: Balance of payments, Banking, Competition, Current account, Current account deficits, Financial markets, Labor, Public debt
• Keywords: bank equity price, Competition, CR, Current account, Current account deficits, deficit, employment growth, GDP, Global, growth, growth outlook, investment, ISCR, savings-investment balance, securitized loan

Portugal: Staff Report for the 2008 Article IV Consultation, IMF Staff Country Reports 2008, 323 (2008).

Content in this bundle

• Cr08323
  • Cr08323 (PDF)