The prime minister believed on Thursday that Portugal is a different country from the scenarios predicted by the opposition, without stagflation or recession, but with one of the highest growth rates in the European Union, with falling inflation and employment at historic highs.
António Costa opened the debate on the state of the nation, in the Assembly of the Republic, criticizing the predictions made ten months ago by the opposition, which he accused of making catastrophic speeches regarding the country, in a context from the post-pandemic of covid-19, from economic uncertainty after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, with “an unexpected rise in interest rates and the highest inflation in the last 30 years”.
“Faced with this reality, with humility, the government chose responsibility over alarmism, action over fatalism. While others focused on catastrophic speeches, we looked for concrete solutions to the problems,” he defended.
For example, António Costa said last September “there was no doubt for the opposition: Portugal was heading for recession – and at best it could stagnate”.
However, that turned out to be the case on Thursday, according to the prime minister “Portugal did not stagnate, Portugal did not go into recession, Portugal did not return to stagflation” and on the contrary, “it had the third highest growth in the European Union in the first quarter and growth forecasts for this year already vary between 2.4 and 2.7%”.
“Employment is at an all-time high, with 4.9 million people in work; and inflation has fallen from 10.1% in October to 3.4% in June. This is the main conclusion of this assessment: this year was Portugal not the country that the opposition predicted, that they passionately announced that it would be and that – let’s be clear!
In his opening speech, the leader of the executive warned that “the country’s problems are real, they are not mere rhetorical figures”, and admitted errors in the course of his government by an absolute majority.
“We don’t always succeed. Sometimes we make mistakes. But we never give up trying to find solutions, whether it’s strengthening the SNS (National Health Service), access to housing, working conditions in the security forces, valuing of public schools, we never face the problems and roll up our sleeves to face them,” he pleaded.
Shortly afterwards, however, he resumed his criticism: “The opposition has only one priority, the fight against the government and the solutions it proposes”.
“For this reason, they are nothing and criticize everything. Just as the forecasts failed, they also said throughout the year that the Iberian electricity mechanism would raise prices, that the reopening of the regulated gas market was irrelevant, that the reduction of But the reality is that with the series of measures taken by the government, the price of energy products fell by 18.8% year-on-year in June,” he countered.
In this context, he tried to highlight one of the most recent measures his government has taken to fight inflation, saying that the opposition “said 0% VAT on food products would not change anything”.
“But the reality is that according to ASAE, the price of the 46 products subject to the VAT reduction has already fallen by 10%. For our part, we will continue to govern with people in mind, attentive to problems and focused on building solutions, as we have done during this parliamentary year, to protect the income of Portuguese families,” he said.
In the last part of his speech, he left a splinter to the current PSD chairman, Luís Montenegro.
“For us, Portugal is only better if the Portuguese are better,” said António Costa, who went further on this point.
“If today the Portuguese pay two billion euros less IRS; if wage increases go beyond what has been agreed in social negotiations, if social benefits and pensions rise above inflation; if inflation is already falling, especially in energy and in a lot of foods; then we can say that the Portuguese are better, that the country is improving,” he concluded.
Costa emphasizes that stability was the Portuguese’s option and guarantees transformation
The Prime Minister also stated that he is aware of the problems faced by the Portuguese, but stressed that political stability was the Portuguese’s option in the last election and that this is the factor driving transformative action.
These views were conveyed by António Costa in the second part of his opening speech in the parliamentary debate on the state of the nation, in which he attempted to identify the main challenges facing the country.
“We are well aware of the difficulties that the Portuguese face in their daily lives and we are aware that many young people are wondering about their future in Portugal. But we are also sure that the results already achieved prove that we are on the right track and that the volume of European funds that the country needs to invest in the coming years can accelerate this process of structural transformation of the Portuguese economy”to maintain.
It was in this context, regarding the “structural transformation” in the Portuguese economy, that the leader of the executive left one of the few notes of a political-institutional nature.
“Political stability was the option of the Portuguese just over a year ago. And it is this stability option that guarantees the continuity of transformative action, the fulfillment of the commitments with the Portuguese, the implementation of essential reforms for the modernization of the country and improve the quality of life of the Portuguese,” he defended.
Costa announces agreement with ANMP to renovate 451 primary and secondary schools
He announced that the government is preparing to sign an agreement with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) for the rehabilitation of 451 primary and secondary schools. This commitment was mentioned by António Costa in his opening speech.
According to the executive leader, decentralization, at the regional and municipal level, is the “true cornerstone of state reform”.
On Friday “we will culminate [essa reforma] with the signing of the agreement with the ANMP, for the rehabilitation of 451 EB 2/3 and high schools”.
Regarding other measures he said were being implemented, the prime minister “emphasized the regime of professional orders, to ensure free access to the profession and effective competition in regulated professions; and the separation of administrative and police functions in managing migration flows “.
In this area too, António Costa noted changes with the installation of the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MENAC) “and the unprecedented increase” in the technical and human resources of the PJ – an investment aimed at “strengthening the fight against economic and financial crime”. such as corruption”.
Source: DN
