Growth of the Portuguese economy could fall by half due to bad weather

Possible drop as early as 2026, but the next few years could also be affected. The center brings together a lot of industry and a lot of exports.

The Portuguese economy last year. For this year, forecasts point to 2,2% or 2,3% – but these numbers were released before the bad weather of the last few days.

A Central region, especially Leiria and its surroundings, was the most affected. And it is in this region that many of the Portuguese companies focused on industry by export.

Warn you now that the economic growth could fall (much) short than previous accounts suggested. Even though current calculations are still somewhat early.

First, there are losses huge in countless companies – and, consequently, losses to the economy.

Then, look at the total support from 2.5 billion euros by the Prime Minister last Sunday.

This means that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), instead of growing by 5.7 billion euros throughout this year, you can stay at 3.2 billion euros (2.5 billion in support is removed from the initial value).

The annual growth rate becomes 1,3%. It is just over half of the previous forecast.

But the bills can be worse: the Prime Minister himself, Luís Montenegro, predicts that the damage could be “much greater than expected”.

The Center is a very industrialized region; and now it is very compromised, due to the undoing complete of factories, or others that, not having been destroyed, had to to stop.

Thousands of homes and businesses still have no electricity, water, or communications. And this is also synonymous with a stagnant economy, with far fewer people working.

As exports – glass, ceramics, cement – ​​are also suffering, and will continue to suffer, a considerable drop.

The losses will amount to millions of euros in the glass, warns the Association of Packaging Glass Industries, at the Lusa agency.

In the sector of cement e concrete, Secil temporarily stopped working in Leiria and Alcobaça.