Portugal expects deficit of 6.3% of GDP in 2020 due to coronavirus

Portugal's government expects a deficit equal to 6.3% of GDP in 2020 because of the coronavirus outbreak, budget secretary of state Joao Leao said on Tuesday, a painful setback after the country had its first budget surplus in 45 years at the end of 2019.

The pandemic dented a 4.4 billion euro hole in public revenues, amounting to 5% of the state budget, Leao said, largely due to a fall in tax and social security payments. Government spending was 4.3 billion euros higher than predicted, Leao said.