AlQa'dah 12, 1433, Sep 28, 2012, SPA -- Portugal's budget deficit in the first half of the year was 6.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), well above the target for all of 2012, dpa cited figures shown by a release of the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Friday. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which have granted Lisbon a bailout worth 78 billion euros (100 billion dollars), said earlier this month they would relax the target to 5 per cent from the original 4.5 per cent. The INE also revised the 2011 budget deficit upwards to 4.4 per cent from 4.2 per cent. That level was only reached thanks to a transfer of banks' pension funds into state coffers. Portugal's public debt is expected to climb to 119.1 per cent of GDP or 198 billion euros in 2012, the INE said. -- SPA
