The Minister of Finance insisted on Tuesday that the elimination of VAT on certain products does not solve the problem of high prices, for example, in food, and that the Government monitors all possible scenarios of action.
Asked by journalists about the possibility of the Portuguese Government Eliminate VAT on products considered essentialAs happened in Spain, Fernando Medina rejected the idea: “I have already spoken out more than once, we do not consider it a priority measure due to the consequences that have already been seen in the countries that applied it.”
From the perspective of the Portuguese Finance Minister, counteracting the rise in prices is only possible if the Government “Strengthen the income of the most vulnerable families and concentrate efforts there“.
It is the families who ultimately decide what is best and what choices they can make better”, he added, at the end of a meeting of finance ministers of the European Union (EU), in Brussels (Belgium).
In this sense, the socialist ruler announced the measures, such as the increase “very significantof the minimum wage this year (it is set at 760 euros), and the increase in the lowest social benefits.
Also in the European recommendations is a review of the support mechanisms for price reductions that have been put in place by different countries, in different areas, making them more selective in relation to the weakest and most vulnerable public, and that is what which we are also going to do”, he added, assuming that the socialist executive is following what is being done in the rest of the EU member states and looking for the “most effective” solutions.
In Spain, one of the countries that adopted the policy of “zero VATIn certain products, the measure ended up causing a rise in production prices, nullifying the benefit that it would bring and aggravating the situation already deteriorated by the resurgence of inflation in recent months.
Source: Observadora
