Torres Vedras, Portugal, Aug. 4, 2026 (Lusa)- Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has played down the debt figures released on Monday, adding that the results will «surprise» people by the end of the year.

«Let us not be alarmed by the debt figures. I can say with complete confidence that they are of absolutely no significance whatsoever in terms of the trajectory of our public debt relative to our Gross Domestic Product,» said Luís Montenegro, whilst speaking at the opening of the country's first privately managed Family Health Centre.

«By the end of the year, we will once again, in this area, as with economic growth and the budget balance, surprise many of those here or watching from abroad with our results,» he added.

The prime minister did not make any statements to journalists on the sidelines of the ceremony.

Public debt under the Maastricht criteria, the figure recognised by Brussels, rose to 92.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year, up 1.9 percentage points from the previous quarter, the Bank of Portugal reported on Monday.

In the first quarter of the year, the public debt ratio stood at 91% of GDP, and has now risen by 1.9 percentage points.

According to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), in June 2026, public debt totalled €293.9 billion, €5.2 billion more than in May.

This change «reflected the increase in liabilities in the form of deposits (+€0.5 billion), particularly in savings certificates (+€0.6 billion), and in debt securities (+€4.7 billion), mainly long-term», according to the central bank.

In the month under review, general government deposit assets totalled €31.4 billion, an increase of €6.6 billion compared with May.

«After deducting these deposits, public debt fell by €1.3 billion to €262.5 billion,» the Bank of Portugal (BdP) stated.

FCC/ADB // ADB.

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