LISBON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Friday that his country reached new highs in 2019 in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from diverse sources, but warned that macroeconomic stability is essential for preserving international confidence in the country, the Portuguese Lusa News Agency reported.
Costa was speaking at a signing ceremony of 14 investment contracts in Portugal involving multinationals, such as Bosch, Lauak, Natixis, Bial, Bluepharma or Vila Gale Internacional.
The prime minister said that the country reached fiscal "equilibrium" in 2019 and that "it will register later this year the first surplus" in the history of Portuguese democracy.
"The budget is an instrument and not an end in itself, and this trajectory has only one goal: to strengthen international confidence in the country, allowing us to continue to have a sustained debt reduction capacity and to continue to be trusted by international markets to reduce the interest rate, which is the best support that can be given to those who want to invest in Portugal," he said.
Costa said he was confident that the volume of foreign investment will continue to grow in 2020.
Citing the most recent data available, the prime minister highlighted the diversity of foreign direct investment contracted in Portugal in terms of source, economic sector and geographic destination. He said that foreign investors targeted not only large cities like Porto or Lisbon, but the whole of Portugal.
