The presidency minister said this Thursday that the government will follow a line of “balance” against inflation, with the maintenance of social support deemed necessary, to counter the economic and budgetary austerity of past austerity .
This position was taken by Mariana Vieira da Silva after she was confronted with warnings from the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, about the need for European governments not to introduce new measures of financial support and salary increases, so that the inflation decreases. reduced more quickly and is not stimulated.
During the press conference, at the end of the Council of Ministers, Mariana Vieira da Silva declined to comment directly on the position of the ECB president, who was also joined by other central bank governors.
He drew a political line, however, saying: “Especially in Portugal, there is already previous experience of what happens when people’s needs are not met”.
“If that happens, life will not go well, neither economically nor budgetary”to maintain.
Mariana Vieira da Silva argued that “It is for this government, taking into account the economic and social context, to take the measures it deems necessary”.
“That is why in 2022 we had measures of significant value – €5.7 billion, about 2.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) – to respond to a crisis situation. What I can guarantee is that we will not fail to take action when we deem it necessary, because a balance must always be ensured. People must be able to live with the rising cost of living”he stressed.
Asked if the government feels constrained by the ECB’s stance against new social aid and salary increases, the holder of the presidency’s portfolio said the Prime Minister, António Costa, “has already been clear in terms of maintaining key measures taken by the government”. .
“We are in a global context with diverse pressures and many players, including some international organizations. It is essential for the government to have a set of measures aimed at combating inflation, curbing the rise in energy prices, protecting the most vulnerable households and also having measures aimed at the middle class” pleaded.
Mariana Vieira da Silva later said that, looking at Portugal’s inflation rates and the generality of economic and social indicators, the conclusion is “that the strategy has been correct and adequate”.
“We are going to continue the work exactly as we have done: there are already measures that we have taken that were not necessary to continue; others were reinforced and continued,” he stressed, before trying to emphasize that the government is making it of “a permanent assessment” of the evolution of the economic and financial situation.
ECB pressure
Still under pressure from the ECB for European Union member states to withdraw expenditures set to face the times of the fight against covid-19 and against inflation, the minister for the presidency noted that the government “measures have been defined with calendars and temporalities different about this time”.
“We have planned measures until the end of the year and others of a more structural nature, such as pensions and salaries for civil servants. We always make a trade-off. We have not changed the assumptions or the methodology in the way we have worked. terms of inflation,” he defended.
In an indirect response to the ECB’s pressure on national governments of the European Union, Mariana Vieira da Silva claimed that, “if the government understood that it was time to withdraw support measures for families, it would have already done so “. so done”.
“But as far as we are concerned, the past year and three months imply a great focus on the most vulnerable families, on families with children and on low or middle incomes, so that they are able to cover their expenses. That is the policy government,” insisted he on.
According to the Presidency Minister, depending on the evolution of interest rates and inflation, the executive will “analyze whether further action is necessary”.
“That’s what we always do. We present additional measures whenever we feel an additional response is needed. That’s what accurate accounting and budgetary capacity are for,” he added.
Source: DN
