The IMF said that Portugal's public deficit will reach 3.2 percent of GDP this year, though it revised its growth forecast upward from 1.2 percent to 1.5
percent.
The IMF mission chief Subir Lall also stressed the need for the country to implement "a deep reform of the state nike air max 90 black friday ," in order to "improve the functioning of the public administration."
The IMF representatives arrived in Lisbon on March 5 to carry out its annual assessment of the Portuguese economy and on Tuesday released its preliminary
conclusions.
The Portuguese government has insisted that the country can reach its deficit target of below 3 percent this year, with Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho
insisting that the country must not slow down its pace of reforms.
Portugal signed a 78-billion-euro bailout fund in May 2011 with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank when
it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Portugal exited its bailout program in May
last year.
The IMF lent Portugal 26.9 billion euros, which carried a 3.7 percent tax rate and an average loan maturity of 7 years. The Portuguese government recently
revealed it is planning to pay its 14- billion-euro IMF debt early to take
advantage of low borrowing costs for European peripheral governments.
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. economic growth decelerated in the fourth quarter of 2014 and is likely to slow further in the first quarter of
2015 despite robust consumer spending wholesale nike air max 90 trainers , the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday.
The U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the second estimate released last month, the Department
said in a report on the final estimate of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
That marked a large slowdown from a 4.6-percent growth in the second quarter and a 5-percent growth in the third quarter, reflecting weak trade figures and
government spending.
For the whole year of 2014, the U.S. economy expanded 2.4 percent wholesale nike air max 90 essential , slightly higher than that in 2013.
The fourth-quarter GDP growth stays unrevised as the larger-than-expected increases in exports and personal consumption expenditures largely offset a
downward revision to private inventories, according to the report.
Personal consumption, which accounts for about 70 percent of overall economic activity, grew at an annual rate of of 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter, more
strongly than previously estimated and the fastest pace since 2006. It added
2.98 percentage points to the overall economic growth in the quarter.
While exports grew at 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter wholesale nike air max 90 china , up from 3.2 percent in the previous estimate, trade deficit sliced off 1.03 percentage points of the fourth-quarter growth as imports rose
sharply.
The change in private inventories also subtracted 0.1 percentage point from growth during the fourth quarter. It was previously reported to have added 0.12
percentage point to growth.
Non-residential fixed investment, or business investment, increased 4.7 percent during the October-December period, slightly slower than an earlier
estimate of 4.8 percent and down from 8.9 percent in the third
quarter wholesale nike air max 90 2019 , with spending on structures up 5.9 percent and investment on equipment up 0.6 percent.
The slowing business investment might reflect the strong U.S. dollar and weak global demand. Dennis Lockhart, president of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta,
said Thursday that he is paying increasing attention to the impact of the strong
dollar on the U.S. economy as the central bank moves closer to raising interest
rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that she expected an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate will be warranted later this
year, and the pace for the rate hike will likely be gradual.
While Yellen expected the real GDP is likely to expand faster than its potential in coming quarters, she pointed out some headwinds for the economy:
dollar appreciation appears to be restraining net exports; low oil prices are
prompting a cutback in driving activity; and the recovery in residential
construction remains subdued.
Many economists expect the economy to slow further in the first quarter. "The economy faces headwinds from weak growth abroad - as well as the lingering
effects of winter weather - that economists generally expect to reduce GDP
growth temporarily in the first quarter of 2015 wholesale nike air max 90 mens ," Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman said Friday in a statement.
Morgan Stanley economists have downgraded their forecast for first-quarter growth to an annual rate of 0.9 percent from 1.2 percent of an earlier estimate,
after the Commerce Department on Wednesday reporte. Cheap NBA Hats Cheap Hockey Jerseys Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Cheap MLB Hats Online Cheap College Hats Free Shipping Cheap Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Replica NHL Jerseys Cheap Replica NFL Jerseys Cheap Replica Soccer Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys
