In its May review, EthiFinance Ratings upgrades the Republic of Portugal’s unsolicited credit rating from BBB to BBB+ with a Stable outlook. The European rating agency considers that the Portuguese economy will grow by 2.7% this year, according to the European Commission’s forecasts. This rating improvement is based on the “rapid” economic recovery during 2021 and 2022, as well as on the correction of certain imbalances in public finances and the financial system consolidation carried out last years. It also emphasizes the favorable evolution of the Portuguese labor market, which last year reduced its unemployment rate to 6% of the active population, seven tenths of a percentage point less than at the end of 2021. However, the rating is limited by the high level of public debt which, despite the downward trend observed in recent years, will be above 110% at the end of this fiscal year 2023.
