Portugal meets 2013 budget deficit goal
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal has met its 2013 budget deficit goal agreed under the country's bailout, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The public administration posted a budget deficit of 7.152 billion euros in 2013, beating the goal set under the bailout by 1.749 billion euros, the finance ministry said in a statement.
It did not provide a figure for the budget deficit in terms of percent of gross domestic product.
The achievement is the latest sign that Portugal is turning the corner on its debt crisis, which forced Lisbon to seek a bailout in 2011 that it hopes to exit smoothly in the middle of this year.
(Reporting By Axel Bugge)
