Portuguese exports put on 3% growth over the course of 2014 and were it not for the drop in the price of oil, the surge would have been over 5%, the Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima told journalists late Monday.
“The growth in our exports in 2014 would have been 5% were it not for the negative performance specifically in terms of refined fuel product exports,” the minister said at a press conference following a meeting of the Council of Industry chaired by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, The Portugal Newsonline reported Tuesday.
With a government forecast of 3.7% for 2014 export growth, the minister was not crowing about the result but did point out how Portuguese exports had put on a €20 billion ($22.6b) surge over the last five years to total in the region of €70 billion in 2014.
Pires de Lima stressed how all sectors had put in strong performances but that the 30% drop in refined oil products had slowed the overall impact of the export performance but that government did maintain its prediction of an almost 5% rise in exports this year.
Among the other forecasts the economy minister raised was the expected €3 billion improvement in Portugal’s balance of trade resulting from the fall in the price of oil with “each 20% fall in the price of oil, according to the econometric studies done by the ministries, resulting in additional economic growth of between 0.3% and 0.5%.”
