According to the country's finance minister, Fernando Medina, a considerable decline in Portugal's rate of inflation is forecast for this month.

Inflation is expected to be under 5.1% for months in the second half of this year, the minister said during the presentation of the government's Stability Programme (SP) for 2023-2027 in Lisbon.

"What will happen is that from the month of April, May (…) the inflation rate will register a significantly lower trend," compared to what has occurred in these first months of the year," Media said on Monday.

Within the government's Stability Programme, inflation is forecast to decline to 5.1% in 2023, a rise from the 4% that was predicted in October. Next year, inflation is set to fall to 2.9%, the SP goes on to add.

The finance minister said the annual 5.1% inflation rate for 2023 means there would be "months of inflation of less than 5.1% for the second half of the year." This "phenomenon of falling inflation has to do with what is happening in the energy markets" and also in the industrial component, he went on to say.

The finance minister also stated that lower inflation indicates a price slowdown, as opposed to a fall in prices, Euractiv reports. However, this doesn't rule out certain goods experiencing an "effective decrease in prices", he said.

The Stability Programme's macroeconomic scenario for 2023-2027 – presented to parliament and the European Commission - forecasts a downward trajectory for the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).

Simultaneously, the inflation forecast for this year has been upwardly revised from the 4% forecast last year in the 2023 state budget and moves nearer to the central bank's 5.5% forecast and the Public Finance Council's prediction of 5.9%.

Also, within the Stability Programme, Portugal's government included an upward revision for this year's economic growth forecast to 1.8%, compared to the 1.3% predicted last October.