LISBON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese deficit fell to 1.9 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) in first half of 2017, according to figures released Friday by the National Institute of Statistics.
The figure is considerably lower than the 3.1 percent registered for the same period last year. It also marks a slight fall from the first quarter level of 2.0 percent.
However, it is still higher than the government's 1.5 percent target for 2017.
Furthermore, the general balance, which weighed in at minus 1.794 billion euros (2.15 billion U.S. dollars), does not factor in the 3.9 billion euros the Portuguese state has pumped into the recapitalization of Caixa Geral de Depositos, Portugal's largest bank by assets.
For the moment, the government's intervention counts as state aid and is therefore not audited as part of the deficit. But it will have to be factored into the balance sheet by March 2018.
Portugal must keep its deficit below 3 percent to satisfy European Union budget rules, having exited the excessive deficit procedure in May this year.
