Público, 16 September 2010
Since January, the "Portuguese state has accumulated debt at a rate of 2.5 million euros per hour", headlines Público. The calculations have been made by economist João Duque, who has told the Lisbon daily that Portugal faces "debt at an unsustainable pace, even more so because it aims to meet current state expenditure that is constantly growing". For the economist and President of ISEG (School of Economics and Management), "the country is giving the markets a bad signal and investors could force prime ministers out of office simply by cutting off funds". At present, Portuguese public debt amounts to 146 billion. Since January, it has increased by 14.2 billion, perilously close to the 17.4 billion the state has authorised for the year.
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