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Portugal must increase incomes to re-launch economy: opposition leader

Xinhua, July 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Increasing the incomes of households and companies is vital to re-launch the Portuguese economy, the leader of Portugal's main opposition Socialist Party said on Friday.

"We need to make a combined effort, on behalf of companies and the state, to try to improve the income of companies and families. That is the turning point from which we can re-launch the economy," Antonio Costa told journalists on Friday at a meeting in Setubal, according to Portuguese Lusa News Agency.

"That involves the area of pay but also decreasing taxes, which have suffocated the middle class," he said.

Costa added that it was necessary to combat poverty and to create financing conditions for companies to enable investment, and that the main priority should be fighting unemployment and job insecurity.

He criticized the main ruling coalition for worsening unemployment and job insecurity and for "attacking public services, especially health and justice."

Portugal has been applying harsh tax hikes and spending cuts to meet the targets set in its 78-billion-euro (about 87 billion U.S. dollars) bailout, which the country signed in 2011 with its international creditors.

Portugal's unemployment rate stands at over 13 percent, according to recent figures by the country's statistics institute, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging the country to lower its public debt which stands at around 130 percent of GDP.

Portugal is facing general elections in October and the Socialists seem to be running neck-and-neck with the ruling coalition according to recent polls.

While the Socialists push on with their anti-austerity stance, the ruling coalition insists further reforms are needed to get the economy back on track.

The economy is starting to expand again and Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho forecasts the economy to grow 1.6 percent this year. Enditem