The president of the republic warned this Wednesday that the way out of the economic crisis “could take a little longer” than expected and said unemployment figures indicate that “international evolution is slow”.
When asked if the unemployment rate – which is 7.1% according to monthly data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), with January being the third consecutive month in which there was an increase – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that this data is a “warning signal” .
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told journalists from the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL) that the rise in unemployment is a sign “that international evolution is slow, that the war continues, that inflation in many countries remains high, that the international economy has not recovered”.
“Even major European powers like Germany are evolving slowly and since it’s an open world, it has consequences,” he stressed.
One of these effects, according to the head of state, is “although at a low level, the increase in the unemployment rate in some sectors”, as the current period “is still a period of low activity”.
The president of the republic gave the example of tourism which, although it is “going very well”, “will gradually increase over the course of the year”.
“That is why I would like to say, always with caution, that leaving the crisis period – which comes from the past, the pandemic has worsened and the war has also worsened, has many factors -, it is a way out that can take a little longer last. than expected. some had expected,” he said.
Despite this, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa believed that the fact that the Portuguese economy grew by 6.7% in “gross product” in 2022 is “good news”.
“Now we already know that such growth is not possible in 2023 and so we are going to see exactly how the economy will evolve. to be in a very serene and very realistic and intermediate position,” he said.
Asked if he believes that as inflation in food has risen and reached 20%, the Competition Authority should be alert to prices, Marcelo replied: “Sure, sure”.
During his visit to BTL, where he visited several ‘stalls’, tasted cheese, drank wine and poncha and spoke to several traders, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa met PSD leader Luís Montenegro and the presidents of regional governments of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, and of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro.
During a visit to the “state” of the Azores, the president of the republic said that tourism in Portugal is “very good”.
“It started at the end of January, then at the end of the year it was a natural pause and it has continued to rise. [de modo] very homogeneous throughout the territory, (…) and with a [turismo] very, very young. Lately, for example, in the afternoons and evenings – I have my walks at night – I have met groups of young students who took advantage of the fall of the semester, in February, and came to Portugal for their holidays,” he said.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “Portugal acts as a safe haven” as it is seen “a bit like the Azores: an island in the middle of the Atlantic that is European, but far from the conflict”.
“Portugal is in fashion: it was in 2019, it endured the pandemic – difficult, 2020, 2021 – in 2021, moving to 2022, it went up, up, up. 2022 broke records of 2019 and this year we will beat 2022 “, he predicted.
Marcelo says he only verified that Passos Coelho “spoke about his political future”
The president of the republic stressed that he does not “interfere in party life” and rejected speculation about a possible return to political life of Pedro Passos Coelho, stating that he only verified that the former prime minister “talked about his political future”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was asked if he believes former Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has better terms than Luís Montenegro to lead the PSD.
“I do not comment on these issues, I just attended a session where the former Prime Minister and former leader of the PSD spoke about his political future,” replied Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in reference to a dinner Monday night at Grémio Literário, where, according to Expresso, the President of the Republic, after listening to a speech by Passos Coelho, felt it was worth recording that day, as the former Prime Minister had spoken about his political future.
The President of the Republic said that he was asked about the political future of Passos Coelho at that meeting, after replying that he does not know and that “it is the person who decides on the possibility, or, when, how”.
“I just verified that he spoke of his political future. Now, in whatever position and in whatever way, it is not the President of the Republic who replaces himself by the choice of final leaders or candidates for leaders of whatever it may be “, strengthens.
Asked again if Passos Coelho is a “better alternative” than Luís Montenegro to lead the PSD, Marcelo repeated: “Whoever chooses the leader of a party is the militants of the party, the president does not interfere in party life”.
On Tuesday, Expresso reported that Passos Coelho called his “political horizon” over dinner at Grémio Literário, where the president of the republic and the former PSD leader met.
According to Expresso, the former leader of the PSD pointed to the lack of purpose for the country, called his “political horizon” and pointed out to the head of state, who spoke next, that “it is worth capturing this day” , in that Passos Coelho “defined his political and personal life by talking about the future”.
“If things go the way they should, it’s worth fixing it today,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Speaking on the future of the European Union, Passos Coelho had said that to the “desperation of some” there will be no “kind of fiscal and debt union, nor a European government that responds to collective shocks in an aggregated way”. Afterwards he added: “We won’t have it in the next few years and I don’t expect it on the horizon of my political and personal life.”.
Source: DN
