The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this Friday praised the measures announced by the government to mitigate the effects of inflation, as they are “well taken, at the right time” and concern “fundamental sectors” .
“I, in the same way that I criticize what needs to be criticized, I praise what needs to be praised. And I have already praised the minister [das Finanças] Medina a while ago, because I think [as medidas] were taken well, at the right time”the head of state told journalists in a hotel in Santo Domingo.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the government has now taken action because it has realized “that it is not a break in inflation for now” and it has been proven that “there is slack” in the budget: “At the moment the conditions are met , and not much, much more was expected”.
When asked whether the measures announced on Friday are sufficient, the President of the Republic replied: “Well, no one knows. I mean, it’s what’s possible at the moment. Whether they’re enough will depend on how the budget evolves in the future and, above all, will depend on whether inflation breaks or not.”
The head of state also welcomed the “good news about the deficit, 0.4%” in 2022, reiterating that another “good news should come from this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth” in the forecasts from the Bank of Portugal, from “almost 2%, 1.8%”.
Still talking about the government’s measures to reduce inflation, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa referred that “they are going to four fundamental sectors: food products, which will be reduced to zero in the coming months, VAT on food products; measures for agriculture, which was very sensitive”.
“Direct aid measures like the end of last year into the pockets of families; and then a concern to supplement this with an extraordinary increase in public servants’ salaries”completed.
Faced with criticism from the PSD parliament leader, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, that the support announced by the government “completely ignores the middle class”, the head of state countered that “the middle class is covered in the sense that food is also consumed by the middle class” and also pointed out “teacher salaries, part of the middle class”.
According to him, the problem that may “hurt the middle class the most is the interest on mortgage loans, because there are a million and a hundred thousand families, that’s a lot of people”, but “there government intervention is more limited”.
“It has to do with the interest rate policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and therefore with the situation of the banking system. This is a reality that is unfortunately very international for us”he said.
Regarding the reduction of VAT on essential food products, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that he is aware of the government’s solution, but it is not for him to announce it.
In your opinion, this measure is “it can be more successful or less successful, it depends on the type of product and depends on the reaction of the market”.
“Let’s wait and see. It’s provisional, it’s something very new in Portugal”he added.
In general, regarding aid to mitigate the effects of inflation, Esatdo’s head reiterated that “it is adjusted on a case-by-case basis, because we see what the capacity is moment by moment and case by case.”
The President of the Republic has been in the Dominican Republic since Wednesday evening, where he made an official visit for one day on Thursday, before taking part in the 28th Ibero-American Summit, between this Friday and Saturday, together with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
Source: DN
