The prime minister on Wednesday ruled out risks of contagion to Portugal from a banking crisis, stressed that there is no national bank in the pipeline, and criticized the timidity of the recent proposal by the European Commission on the electricity market.
These positions were conveyed by António Costa at a press conference at the end of the 34th Luso-Spanish Summit, in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, with the leader of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, by his side, in which he cited the conclusion of the finance ministers of the European Union on the “stability” of the European banking sector.
“In the specific case of Portugal, a few weeks ago the European Commission closed the last procedure it had [Novo Banco] about a bank that had been the subject of resolution and has now completed its restructuring process, and is in good shape,” the Portuguese Prime Minister said.
Subsequently, the executive leader referred to the evolution of energy costs and said that the Iberian solution of disconnecting electricity from gas “allowed energy inflation” in Portugal and Spain “much lower” than general inflation.
“It is no longer the cost of energy that is fueling inflation, but other causes, which it is important to analyze. You have to see the best way to respond cause by cause, ”he said, after being questioned about the existence of speculation in the formation of food prices.
On this point, he advocated that, if the same strong regulatory framework had existed in relation to different sectors that applies in relation to energy, “inflation today would surely be more controlled than it is.”
If António Costa did not develop the issue of the evolution of food prices in Portugal, neither did he do so in relation to the proposal of the European Commission, which was released on Tuesday, on the electricity market.
“The proposal that the European Commission has presented for the reform of the electricity market is very timid,” he defended.
According to the Portuguese prime minister, this proposal “presents some positive steps, in the right direction, but it falls far short of what is necessary.”
“We need what Spain and Portugal have been defending since March of last year, in the sense of separating once and for all the electricity and gas markets, putting an end to the marginalist rule of setting the price of electricity at a price higher than the from its source of production. “, he said.
In summary, António Costa reiterated that the setting of the price of electricity must be based on the effective cost of its form of production.
Source: TSF
