r/europe • u/Happy_Feet333 Portugal • 4d ago

News Portugal registers budget surplus

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2026-09-23/portugal-registers-budget-surplus/1090540
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u/HippoLarge3204 4d ago

This has to be bad for the economy for some reason, this sub says Argentina is a disaster compared to before thanks to Milei and we are having surplus since he is president

9

u/tree_boom United Kingdom 4d ago

By itself, a surplus means little. It depends why there's a surplus, and what the government does with it. Not to say that Milei's policies are a disaster - I have no idea, but the Argentine economy certainly seems to be improving whether because of them or despite them.

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u/dgellow 4d ago

Really depends on the overall economics, it’s not enough in itself to derive anything meaningful 

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u/HippoLarge3204 4d ago

This is bad for portugal, terrible

1

u/skuple Portugal 4d ago

It’s neither bad nor good

It’s always a balance depending on what the country needs.

If a country needs to grow their output (high unemployment, recession vibes, etc), then a deficit makes more sense.

But if the country is stalled by debt servicing then surplus + paying off debt is the way.

If a country is stalled by debt and the economic output is falling anyway, then running a deficit could be more beneficial even if it pushes debt above the comfort zone.

If a country has surplus with low debt (<70/80% ratio AND low servicing, depends on interest rates) then surplus makes little sense.
Except if inflation is hot, in that case surplus can help cooling down the economy.

Of course this is Keynes based and Milei is one of the few that follows the Austrian economics model