Portugal public deficit falls to 6% in Q1

Portugal's public deficit fell to 6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) at the first quarter this year, the country's National Institute of Statistics (INE) revealed Friday.
The figure is higher than the 4-percent forecast by the government for 2014 but fell from around 10 percent in the same period last year.
The government managed to almost halve its deficit thanks to "a decrease in current expenditure", highlighting a significant reduction in staff expenditure which compensated for a rise in intermediate consumption and subsidies.
The statistics body also highlights a rise in tax revenue.
Portugal has been imposing harsh cuts in spending and raising tax to meet the targets set in its 78-billion-euro (106 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program it signed in May 2011 with the troika, namely the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.
The country still needs to cut its deficit to 2.5 percent next year and will be under fiscal surveillance for at least 30 years.
The government opted to forego the last tranche of its bailout aid because it was unable to comply with the measures agreed in the bailout program with the troika.
Portugal's Constitutional Court last month struck down three measures in the state budget for 2014, which made it more difficult for the government to meet this year's deficit reduction target set by the troika.