The leader of the PS was, on Monday night, presenting the State Budget to the Socialists in Lisbon, at the Capitólio cinema, in a session in which the interventions pointed to the PSD and where António Costa focused, once again, in the correct accounts. He even compares the energy freedom that European countries need to stop depending on Russia with the importance of Portugal if release of the debt burden.
“Investing in renewables gives us freedom from an energy point of view, but reducing debt also gives us gives freedom to spend where needed and we don’t have to spend on debt interest if we don’t know how to control it”. The phrase of the socialist and prime minister follows the logic that has already been followed about the “very important” need to “preserve the international credibility of the country” at this stage.
“Whenever there is inflation, central banks significantly increase the interest rate and the most indebted countries increase their debt service. And Portugal has a large debt and has to make it clear that you are determined to further reduce debt, despite the support for families. It is essential so that the resources we have are not wasted on interest payments,” said Costa.
Here he launches the opposition and “its dilemma”: between “it is not possible to turn the page on austerity without leaving the euro and it is not possible to continue in the euro turning the page on austerity”. The reference goes to the right and to the left that supported him in the Government during the first six years of government. But the attacks focused mainly on the rightto which Costa returns when he talks about the subject of pensions.
It is an issue that crosses the PS that criticizes those who “no longer discuss the anticipation of the supplement in October” or “how much pensioners will earn in 2023”, but only want to discuss the “increase in 2024. They guarantee that there will be in 2023”, he said, repeating all the years of pension increases, going back to 2016, the beginning of his term.
On this subject, he also recalls that “the right speaks of austerity as if it no longer remembers” the one it applied “at a time when the country was not growing and was in recession, cutting salaries and pensions in payment.”
He attacked the same right on the Income Pact again when he said that, when he spoke of the 20% rise in wages, “the right said it was unrealistic and then irresponsible” and later, when the Government signed ” with the UGT and the employers’ confederations “the agreement”,to shut up and they said that the government was doing more than its duty”.
Before the leader, the Minister of the Environment had already spoken, in his capacity as host, as president of the PS Federation of the Urban Area of Lisbon. Duarte Cordeiro He spoke above all of measures in the field of energy but also shot at the right that “has cut salaries and pensions with a wink and that now appear with crocodile tears denying their past.” The socialist said that “the the right is lurking for life to get worsethe right hopes that life will get worse for all Portuguese.”
In terms of income, the socialist leader presented charts and graphs with measures to support families, ensuring that their income exceeds forecast inflation. He also took into account the increases to the minimum wage that he promoted during his government and already making projections for the future, guaranteeing that “the rise will be even greater and that in these 11 years of government, from 2015 to 2026, the national minimum wage will rise a 78% and the average remuneration 50%”.
He ended his speech before the Socialists in Lisbon by saying that the PS “will continue to govern until October 2026” and that he hopes that, “at that time, keep gaining trust of the Portuguese”.
Source: Observadora
