AlQa'dah 05, 1434, September 11, 2013, SPA -- Bailed-out Portugal plans to propose to its creditors that it be allowed to incur a larger 2014 budget deficit than currently foreseen, Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas said Wednesday according to dpa. The minister, who also acts as an economic coordinator, said the government would propose a deficit target of 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. That is an increase from the current target of 4 percent. This year's target is 5 per cent. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, however, said the government had taken no definitive decision on the matter. Eurozone countries are only supposed to have a budget deficit of 3 per cent of GDP, according to the currency bloc's guidelines, though exceptions have been made amid the financial crisis. The Portuguese deficit target was due to be discussed when representatives of the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF visit Lisbon next week. The EU and IMF granted Portugal a bailout worth 78 billion euros (103 billion dollars) in 2011. Portas said a deficit target of 4.5 per cent for 2014 would be "more adequate," despite the economy showing "positive signs.
