German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft budget for 2014, lowering its net borrowing estimate to EUR 6.4 billion from EUR 17.1 billion planned for 2013.
The government aims to achieve a balanced budget in 2015 as it expects tax revenues to increase supported by a stable economy.
The budget draft showed that spending will be lowered to EUR 297 billion in 2014 from EUR 302 billion this year.
Portugal's merchandise trade shortfall widened in the June-August period as imports increased at a faster pace than exports, data released by the National Statistics Institute showed Wednesday.
The balance of trade for the three months ended August was a deficit of EUR2.41 billion, bigger than the EUR2.24 billion shortfall recorded a year earlier.
Merchandise exports increased 2.3 percent annually to EUR11.63 billion at the end of August. Shipments to the European Union (EU) countries and the Non-EU market grew 2.1 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.
Imports grew 3.1 percent from last year to EUR14.04 billion in the August quarter. Purchases from the EU climbed 4.4 percent year-on-year, and those from the external market stayed unchanged.
In the month of August, Portugal's exports stayed unchanged from the preceding month, while imports decreased by 3.5 percent, data showed.
2013-10-09 17:42
Spain's merchandise trade deficit declined significantly in July, supported by strong growth in exports, data released by the Commerce Ministry showed Friday.
Net trade for the month resulted in a deficit of EUR786.7 million, which was lower by 53.5 percent than in the same month of 2012.
Export of goods increased 1.3 percent annually to EUR19.86 billion during the month, and reached the highest level since records began. Shipments to the non-Eurozone destinations advanced 8.2 percent, while dispatches to the Eurozone decreased by 4.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the value of imports decreased by 3 percent year-on-year to EUR20.65 billion in July, the agency said.
During the first seven months of 2013, exports climbed 7 percent from the same period of last year, while imports dropped 3.1 percent. The outcome was an year-on-year fall in trade deficit by 67.5 percent to EUR6.61 billion.
2013-09-20 17:42