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PORTUGAL, CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT
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That
barrier
is an essential element for facili-
tating the stability and sustainability of the sys-
tem, from a perspective of solidarity and coopera-
tion among the different sovereign bodies. The
coexistence between presidential and parliamen-
tary majorities of different persuasions has passed
off without drama in several political cycles.
The current situation of a centre-right
President with a centre-left (PS) government
without a parliamentary majority, but with the
guarantee of the support of the forces to its left
is an unprecedented example that confirms the
success of this constitutional solution. Perhaps it
is one of the reasons why no xenophobic or na-
tionalist minorities have emerged in Portugal.
The economic recovery under way
On the economic plane, the last two years
brought recovery following deep recession.
Despite the decline in domestic output, we have
felt the positive effects of the structural meas-
ures introduced, particularly with regard to get-
ting the public finances and banking system
back on a sound footing, the more flexible reg-
ulation of the labour market and the improve-
ment in levels of training and education.
However, reducing the public debt, increas-
ing investment, improving productivity and ex-
port growth are still the fundamental targets to
secure economic, financial and social stability.
Reducing the budget deficit helped us leave
excessive deficits behind in June 2017. In 2016,
the deficit had stood at 2.1 % of GDP, falling to
1.4 % of GDP. Public debt that had amounted
to 130 % of GDP in 2016 fell to 126 %, 242
billion euros less. GDP grew by 2.7 % in total
volume in 2017, 1.1 % more than in the previ-
ous year, that is to say, an extra 193 billion eu-
ros, according to the National Statistics Institute.
And that was because of an increase in invest-
ment, though external demand was slightly
negative, as exports rose a little less than the
imports of goods and services.
Lastly, we cannot forget the low birth rate
and ageing population that are causing difficul-
ties as far as the sustainability of the social secu-
rity system is concerned, since the number of
contributors to the system is growing less than
the number of retirees. African, Brazilian and
Eastern European immigration has proven rela-
tively useful to cover labour needs.
The problem of education and training
The level of professional qualification of the
working population remains a fundamental
concern. The
Education for All
programme was
a major challenge and required a huge effort,
yet in spite of the progress made, with the rais-
ing of compulsory school attendance to 12
years and the emphasis on professional training,
Portugal still has a long way to go in that area.
Only 43 % of the population aged between
24 and 65 has completed the secondary educa-
tion cycle, in stark contrast to the OECD aver-
age, which stands at 76 %. Even in terms of
primary education (nine years of schooling),
only 64 % of the population completed that cy-
cle, below all the other OECD countries with the
exception of Mexico and Turkey.
It is true, in any case, that of all the OECD
members, after South Korea, Portugal is the
country that has grown most in the field of edu-
cation. Indeed, while in the 55-64 age group
just 23 % have secondary education, the per-
centage jumps to 65 % among those aged be-
tween 25 and 34. The new generations, then,
are entering the labour market with many more
professional qualifications than older people