The President of the Government, António Costa, today ruled out a scenario “of no growth and less of a recession” next year, and anticipated that the economy “will continue to grow above the European average”. Speaking to journalists at the end of the ceremony to commemorate the 112th anniversary of the Establishment of the Republic, in Praça do Município, in Lisbon, António Costa and recalling that, on Monday, the Government will present the State Budget for the next year, said that “it is a Budget that adjusts to realities”.
“This year we are the country of the European Union that had the highest growth, next year to the recession in many European countries we are not necessarily immune and therefore Portugal will grow less than this year, but we will not have any non-growth scenario and less of a recession”, he pointed out.
According to the Prime Minister, the economic scenario for 2023, on which the State Budgets will be based, is “moderate growth, adjusted to the realities of the timethat “it is based on a significant slowdown in the rate of inflation and, above all, on a fundamental concern that is the key to economic policy, which is to be able to maintain employment and to be able to sustain income without fueling the inflationary spiral. of households and the ability of businesses to compete.
“After having growth this year well above 6%, which was the highest in the European Union, next year we will obviously have our growth adjusted to the evolution of the euro zone. Therefore, we are not going to have growth of this order, nothing like that, but it is a scenario in which we can be sure that the country will continue to grow, will continue to grow above the European average and approach the most developed countries in the European Union”, said Costa.
The head of government also said that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, will meet on Friday “with all the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic, as provided for in the opposition statute” and “will be first-hand with the opposition parties ” that the Government will present the macroeconomic scenario, refusing to advance specific data.
António Costa said that “the essential elements of the budgetary measures are designed”, but the Government waits, until the closing of the Budget proposal that it will present “to conclude the negotiations with the social partners so that the State Budget for 2023 can already reflect what the medium-term agreement will be for competitiveness and income”.
“We are working with our partners in terms of social consultation so that we can close a competitiveness and income agreement, which is a multi-year agreement, as we have presented it to the public administration, which intends that in the horizon of this legislature, 2026, no there is only a loss of purchasing power since, on the horizon of the legislature, there is an improvement in purchasing power and, above all, we have reached the objective that we had set ourselves of increasing the weight of wages in national wealth to 48% , which is the European average”, he points out.
Source: Observadora
