Economic activity in Portugal registered a “strong reduction” in March as the usual indicators of the economic climate and consumer confidence reached new lows. According to a March report by the Economic Synthesis of the National Statistics Institute (INE), the decline in the economic climate indicator from February to March was the lowest recorded since December 2014. Consumer confidence for the same period declined more sharply than at any time since September 2012 and hit a low not seen since February 2016. Portugal’s economy is being battered by the measures taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
