Public Finances in Portugal : A Brief Long-Run View

This note provides a succinct overview of long-run developments regarding public finances in Portugal with an emphasis on the spending side. Issues addressed are, for instance, the excessive deficit experiences of Portugal, the past experience with fiscal consolidations, and labour cost competitiveness. Public spending control has been a problem in Portugal, and fiscal consolidations in the 80s and 90s have been short-termed and mostly not successful. Additionally, the compensation of general government employees diverged vis-à-vis the EU15 after EU entry