Aníbal Cavaco Silva said on Tuesday that Eduardo Catroga’s performance as head of the finance ministry between 1992 and 1993 “made him one of the best finance ministers in democratic Portugal”.
The former prime minister spoke at ISEG’s CGD auditorium on Tuesday afternoon, June 27, where he paid a professional compliment to the former minister at the Economists’ honors ceremony that earned him the title of Economist Emeritus.
In front of an audience with many personalities from the academic and political world, such as Pedro Passos Coelho, Carlos Moedas and also the former Finance Minister, Manuela Ferreira Leite; the former prime minister said that, as finance minister, in the 1990s, “Eduardo Catroga was the driving force behind launching the Portuguese economy on a sustainable basis”, with growth, with expansion of private consumption.
“His contribution was decisive, so that in 1995 Portugal presented financial health and integrated the group of founding countries of the Eurozone”, still added.
Cavaco Silva stated that “Eduardo Catroga was an important milestone for democratic Portugal” and said his finance minister showed a mastery of economic activities that surprised analysts because of his knowledge of economic models. “He signaled that in his opinion he understood that the use of fiscal, monetary and income policies should be used alongside structural policies to support growth” and that was fundamental for Portugal in the crisis situation that prevailed at the time.
Catroga, the man who coined the phrase “economic recovery” for the former prime minister – who had been inviting him to become his minister for years and only managed to demote him after the third invitation – “He showed his ability to apply his knowledge and put it at the service of political practice.
He concluded that the title that the Order of Economists now awards to Eduardo Catroga could no longer be earned.
Source: DN
