But despite these figures, the fourth quarter did represent a hiccup in the country’s return to economic vitality following the 1.1 percent annualised growth rate in the third quarter.
The figure is generally in line with market expectations but falls below the forecasts factored into the government’s 2015 budget, based on 1 percent 2014 growth, but does match the October update to the European Commission’s own growth forecasts.
In turn, the national institute pointed to the dip in growth stemming from “a less positive contribution from internal demand in comparison with the third quarter and reflecting in a slowdown in private consumption” and only partially offset by “the acceleration in the exports of goods and services.”
The GDP figure thus put on 0.5 percent in real terms, up from 0.3 percent in the third quarter due to this boost in international demand with the annual 0.9 percent increase in GDP reversing the 1.4 percent shrinkage seen in 2013.
Friday also saw João Luís Pacheco, Councillor to the Portuguese Communities in the United States, predict a pick up in the value of remittances returned to Portugal by emigrants following the drop in the value of the euro in recent months.
“With the dollar moving closer in value to the euro, logic says that this is an incentive for persons to send more money and even invest in Portugal”, said Pacheco.
The euro hit an 11 year low against the dollar in January following the announcement of an asset buying programme from the European Central Bank and the National Bank of Switzerland opting to break the Swiss Francs peg with the euro.