LISBON, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Troika of international lenders
will complete their first assessment of the Portuguese economy
since the country ended its bailout program in May this year,
according to Portuguese media reports.
The center of the debate during the Troika's one-week visit has
been the state budget for 2015.
According to local media, the three financial heads, namely the
European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the
European Central Bank, are likely to praise the government for
positive results but will also call on the country to stick to
budgetary control measures and targets set out in May.
The country is expecting its economy to grow 1.5 percent next
year. In light of this, the budget will see certain tax raises,
such as that on tobacco, alcohol and fuel while others will lower,
such as the tax companies pay for employees.
Personal income tax will only be cut if the government manages
to clamp down on tax evasion and fraud, it said.
Portugal is attempting to cut its budget deficit from 4.9
percent in 2013 to four percent of GDP this year and to 2.5 percent
next year.
The debt-laden country signed a 78-billion-euro bailout (about
97 billion U.S. dollars) with the Troika in May 2011 and this
program officially ended in May this year, marking a "clean exit"
without a credit line. (1 euro = 1.25 U.S. dollars) Enditem
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