Topic: Sustainable Economic Policy
Country: Portugal
Delegate Name: Hannah Cooperider
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Portugal position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Economic sustainability relies on responsible usage of resources in order to maintain functionality and profit over a long period of time. Global sustainability relies on the connections between individual nations; therefore, steps must be taken to ensure each nation’s economy is strong in order to promote the success of the global economy. If these steps are not taken, or not addressed properly, the success of the global economy can quickly plummet, leading to crises.
When the United States bailed out their banking industry in 2008, this creating a domino effect, negatively affecting all countries linked the the United States mortgages, as these mortgages were not being paid by the United States citizens. This directly affected two of Portugal’s banks, Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) and Banco Privado Português (BPP), which had already been struggling due to fraud and bad investments. This forced Portugal to request a bailout in 2010, where it agreed to cut its budget deficit from 9.8 percent of GDP in 2010 to 5.9 percent in 2011. After receiving 78 billion euros, Portugal exited the bailout in 2014; however, it is still working to maintain its positive changes. Portugal’s main industries revolve around agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as automotives and tourism. The increase in the ratio of debt to gross domestic product caused an increase in unemployment, creating further issues for Portugal, as its citizens could no longer help contribute to the flow of money in its economy.
Portugal is open to different types of solutions; however, it would like to avoid supporting the idea of nations spending more than they are taking in, if possible, for we have experienced this type of economy in the past and those hardships should not be repeated. Creating nations that are able to support themselves, without the help of outside countries, is vital for economic success. Focusing on the development and growth of the industries of countries as well as creating a strong foundation for each country’s economy will help prevent a crisis such as that of 2008 to occur again.
