The PCP argues that access to housing cannot be solved by changing the rate of effort.

This Sunday, the Secretary General of the PCP defended that access to housing could not be solved by increasing the rate of loans recognized by the Bank of Portugal, but by increasing wages and pensions.

“It seems that the Bank of Portugal is changing the effort rate so that more people can access loans, but the problem for each of us and the country is not the effort rates, but the price of houses and the shameful profits that the bank receives. ” said Paulo Raimundo.

The communist leader, who spoke on the banks of the Olhos da Fervensa river in Cantaneda, in the Coimbra region, on Passeio das Mulheres CDU do Porto, stressed that the big problem is low wages and pensions, which “cannot withstand these increases.” brutal.”

The leader of the PKP emphasized that this is not about “the problem of the level of effort: it is the problem of low wages and pensions.”

“This is something that needs to be solved, not messing around, because it will not solve a single problem,” emphasized Paulo Raimundo, citing the country needs to supply the bank “and 10.7 million euros of profit per day in order to pay an increase in allowances and rents.

In his speech, the communist general secretary systematically reiterated that the “fundamental and urgent” measure, which answers the crucial problems facing the Portuguese, includes raising wages and pensions.

“The situation is complex, and we know from experience the scale of the problem that thousands of people are facing due to the sharp increase in the cost of housing,” he stressed.

According to Paulo Raimundo, Portugal is facing “a very serious situation in which thousands of people, literally with a rope in their throats, are trying to do everything possible and impossible to try to guarantee what is their greatest asset – housing.”

The PKP leader accused the government of not having a “concrete option” to deal with rising housing costs, stressing that “it’s not about declarations of intent, but about concrete actions.”

“What we need now is a government that stops being a patron of banking interests and opposes the interests of the European Union and the European Central Bank strongly and decisively,” he said.

As on Saturday, Paulo Raimundo urged the Prime Minister to stick to his recent announcements about raising interest rates by the European Central Bank, set prices for essential goods and services and approve the PCP proposal so that, as during the pandemic, a moratorium on home loans is imposed at maximum for two years, during which families pay only interest at the rate at which banks finance themselves.

In addition to the proposed moratorium, the PCP Secretary General also believes that the state should assume a central role in brokering mortgage renegotiations between individuals and banks, as well as imposing a mandatory maximum spread of 0.25 on Caixa Geral de Depósitos. %, “which had the advantage of pulling the rest of the bank into this decision.”

The leader stressed that the government has the “opportunity” to vote on these PCP proposals, which will be discussed Friday in the Assembly of the Republic, and whose diploma includes also goals to reduce taxes on workers and pensioners, increase the taxation of groups of economic benefits through tax credits. and reducing VAT on electricity, gas and telecommunications.