The governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mario Centeno, has considered inflation in the euro zone “on track” and has hoped that the target of 2.9% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025 set by the European Central Bank. This was stated on Tuesday at a round table during the XXXVIII meeting of the Cercle d’Economia that is being held these days in Barcelona.
“We are on the path of lowering inflation,” he commented, at the same time that he has removed the risk of a possible recession in the continent. For Centeno, the EU is experiencing a context of low growth, but not of recession. In Spain, inflation eased to 3.2% in May, according to advance data published by the INE today.
However, the Portuguese manager has also called for controlling the deficit of the different states, in line with what was proposed last week by the European Commission. After three years of flexibility to overcome the pandemic crisis, Brussels wants member states to move towards righteousness.
“The states are paying for the covid crisis in terms of debt,” he added, and it is time to work to have “sustainable public finances.” The former president of the Eurogroup has also defended in this sense that he has to return to the path of lowering the public deficit and debt.
On the other side, it has placed the private sector, with a “lower net deposit debt than before the covid”. And this is one of the reasons why, despite the rise in rates, families are “responding well” and maintaining the level of consumption at acceptable levels. Centeno has valued the economic and social situation of Portugal, “with a public debt that is already below 2019”.
