Portugal’s gross domestic product expanded for a fifth quarter in the three months through June as household spending increased.
GDP rose 0.4 percent from the first quarter, when it expanded at the same pace, the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute said on its website today. That matches a preliminary report on Aug. 14. GDP rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier, a seventh increase.
While Portugal emerged from recession during 2013, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho still has to cut spending to meet budget targets and the government forecasts exports and investment will help drive growth this year. Portugal in May 2014 exited a three-year bailout program from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and Coelho faces elections in October.
Government spending rose 0.7 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, while household spending increased 1.3 percent. Investment dropped 1.2 percent. Imports rose 4.5 percent, more than a 3.9 percent increase for exports, today’s report showed.
The government on April 16 raised its growth forecast for 2015 and said it sees the economy accelerating in the following two years. GDP is projected to expand 1.6 percent this year. The economy grew 0.9 percent in 2014, after contracting in the previous three years.