Portugal : Tenth Review Under the Extended Arrangement and Request for Waivers of Applicability of end-December Performance Criteria

This paper discusses Portugal's Tenth Review Under the Extended Arrangement. The short-term outlook has improved and program implementation remains on track, notwithstanding another adverse Constitutional Court ruling. Stronger domestic demand is supporting a pick-up in activity and lower unemployment. The end-September 2013 quantitative performance criteria (PCs) were met, and preliminary estimates suggest that the end-December 2013 targets were also met. Risks to attaining the objectives of the program remain high. IMF Staff supports the authorities' request for completion of the tenth review and for waivers of applicability of the end-December PCs.