Nuno Melo, chairman of the CDS-PP, believes that data released this Friday by INE, which reflects a budget surplus of 1.2% in the first quarter, shows that economic growth for Portuguese households is a “mirage” .
And he adds that the very heavy tax burden that António Costa imposes on Portuguese families has led to a reduction in their disposable income in the first quarter of 2023 and a savings rate (5.9%) that is as low as in 2008.
In a statement, the centrist leader criticizes António Costa’s policies, which he says amount to “covering up the country’s problems, increasing the debt that the Portuguese will have to pay in the future, when they no longer have government responsibilities.” to have”. He increased the debt to pay for irresponsible decisions such as the nationalization of TAP or EFACEC and finance his supporters to keep power, and in between he handed out some “crumbs” with which he hopes to mislead the Portuguese”.
As a result of socialist policies, “the Portuguese economy reached a new record debt of 804 billion euros at the end of April 2023, almost half of which is public debt incurred as a result of the incompetence of the management of the governments of António Costa”.
Nuno Melo says that “the socialist governments have squandered the bonanza of several years to reduce the country’s high debt burden, without taking advantage of the very low interest rates and funding guaranteed by the European Central Bank. Instead of taking advantage of this, António Costa increased the level of debts to be paid in the coming years and the future taxes that the Portuguese will have to pay”.
Melo foresees the need for a change whose motto is the defense of a “policy that gradually reduces the high tax burden and the excessive indebtedness of the state so as not to jeopardize the future of the Portuguese, especially of the younger generations who each choose increasingly to leave the country in search of better wages and living conditions”.
Source: DN
