Political parties are still involved in negotiations but Finance Minister, Mario Centeno, is determined that his last budget will be an historic one, the lowest deficit for Portugal since the 1974 Revolution.
"The value of the deficit in the State Budget will be 0.2% of GDP - which is technically a zero deficit - but over the course of 2019 it is very likely to reach zero or to end the year with a slight budgetary surplus," said Marques Mendes in his weekly commentary on SIC.
According to Mendes, Mário Centeno aims to hand PM António Costa a key political asset, "It is very difficult to criticise a State Budget with a zero deficit."
Centeno, current chairman of the Eurogroup as well as Portugal's Finance Minister, is rumoured to be leaving government at the end of the current administration in the autumn of 2019, "to concentrate on an international career," according to the commentator.
