LISBON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Portugal reduced its general government deficit by 1.61 billion euros (1.99 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday.
The general government deficit stood at 2.574 billion euros by year-end.
The reduction was made possible by revenues growing at a faster rate than expenditure, 3.8 percent versus 1.6 percent.
The Ministry of Finance said it had thus met targets established in the state budget for a second year running.
Portugal exited the European Union (EU) Excessive Deficit Procedure program in May 2017. In doing so, it committed to a deficit of less than 3 percent of GDP.
The general government deficit announced by the government is calculated based on cash-flows. Brussels uses a slightly different methodology that includes obligations.
Nevertheless, the figure bodes well for Portugal meeting EU targets as well as its own.
