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Portuguese PM aims to fight poverty

Xinhua, February 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Portuguese Prime Minister said on Friday the government would map out a strategy to raise people's incomes as a way to fight poverty.

"We have to go ahead with a strategy to improve incomes, improving pensions, social support and overall salaries," Costa said at a local school in Pacos de Ferreira, around 340 km north of Lisbon, during a ceremony to present a program to rehabilitate social housing.

The program presented by Costa on Friday involves interventions in around 8,500 homes, with investment reaching 115 million euros.

Socialist leader Costa came into power in November last year, and is backed by the Left Bloc and Communist Party.

The government has pledged reverse austerity imposed by the previous administration -- namely raising the national minimum wage and restoring salaries and pensions.

The Portuguese suffered several years of harsh austerity after the country signed a 78-billion-euro bailout program with international lenders in 2011 when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The monthly minimum wage was raised from 530 euros to 557 euros in 2017 and the authorities have pledged to raise it to 600 euros by 2019. Endit