The growth rate is not desirable, says Caldeira Cabral – Observer

The Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral said the INE data to revise upwards the GDP growth in the second quarter show an acceleration, along with other indicators, but do not yet meet the Government.

“what these data show is an acceleration of the economy. The chain data show that the second quarter has had a better growth than the first and the indicators we have of the third quarter are also very positive, “said Manuel Caldeira Cabral, told Lusa in Maputo on the sidelines of a visit three days to Mozambique.

the official noted that the economy was in a period of stagnation since the beginning of last year to the first quarter of 2016 and the upward revision announced by the National Statistics Institute ( INE) is “a first acceleration signal”, but still below the desirable.

“[the economy] is not with the pace of growth we would like,” he said.

the Portuguese economy grew 0.9% in the second quarter over the same period and 0.3% in the previous quarter, according to the INE, which reviewed Wednesday upwards by 0.1 percentage points each of the values.

on 12 August, the flash estimate, the INE had reported that the gross domestic product (GDP) Portuguese had grown by 0.8% between April and June this year compared to the same months last year and which had increased 0.2% over the first quarter of this year.

According to Caldeira Cabral, “there are other positive signs”, pointing to the case of employment, which “has been stalled for almost a year,” but the numbers the second quarter indicate an increase of almost 90,000 jobs and “demonstrate that you are there new hires and trust” in the Portuguese economy.

“More slowly than we would wish, companies are re-invest and the recovery is possibly gaining pace, “he said, but insisting that the growth indicators are still little significant and we need to wait for more information.

for Manuel Caldeira Cabral,” move from a growth of 0 2% to 0.3% is still little, but it’s a positive development “and puts the country in a more optimistic trend than in previous forecasts.

” I stress that an increase of 0.2% was consistent with an increase of 0.9% on an annual basis. An increase of 0.3% already puts us in an annual growth if this growing chain remains near 1.2%, “he said, maintaining confidence that” the next quarter to continue this acceleration. “

the government anticipated that GDP grow 1.8% this year, a more optimistic projection than the International Monetary Fund (1.4%), the European Commission (1.5%) and the Bank of Portugal (1 3%).

Manuel Caldeira Cabral ends a visit to Mozambique, where on Monday attended the opening of the Maputo International Fair and visited the 31 exhibitors at the pavilion of Portugal, the world’s main event business in the country.