Portugal is very affected by the fall in foreign tourism, but it could change in second half of 2021

The European commissioner for the economy points out that “Portugal is also affected by one of the sectors in greatest difficulty, which is not only tourism in general, but mainly foreign tourism”, but considers that the scenario could improve in the second half of the year and in 2022. https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates #Costa #SILVA #ALVES #Portugal #vdLeyen #EU #NextGenerationEU #recovery #eudebates #NextGenerationEU #MFF #EUbudget

European commissioner for the economy, Paolo Gentiloni, stressed that Portugal is being greatly affected by the fall in foreign tourism, but Brussels is confident of a recovery in the sector in the summer, contributing to the economic recovery in the second half and especially next year.

“Portugal is also affected by one of the sectors in greatest difficulty, which is not only tourism in general, but mainly foreign tourism. Foreign tourism alone represents 8% of GDP in Portugal, ”said the head of the community executive this Thursday during a press conference in Brussels, after the publication of the autumn projections.

According to the European Commission's projections, the Portuguese economy is expected to recover from the second quarter, after the expected fall in the first quarter of the year, with GDP expanding 4,1% this year, minus 1,3 percentage points (pp) of the than foreseen in the previous report. However, the Commission's technicians are more optimistic for 2022, for which they project a growth of 4,3% in the Portuguese economy, 0,8 pp more than previously.

Paolo Gentiloni stressed that the impact that the pandemic had on foreign tourism is known, but he is confident that the sector will gradually recover in Portugal: "In our forecast, I think this may change in the second half of this year, especially next year," he said.

The European Commission expects the Portuguese economy, as well as the average European economy, to return to pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2022. However, it admits that the beginning of this year will be weaker than previously expected.

“Not only for Portugal, we can apply this to most of the Member States, we have a slower growth rate for 2021. This is obviously linked to the second wave [of the pandemic] that we are still in, but it does not exclude the famous' light at the end of the tunnel, ”he said.

The Commissioner explained that "as the recession in 2020 was not as deep as expected, and thanks to the vaccine advances, we now project that the European Union's economy will return to its pre-crisis GDP level as early as 2022".

The European Commission projects that the eurozone economy will grow 3,8% this year and in 2022, while on the European Union average the projected expansion is 3,7% this year and 3,9% in 2022.


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