The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Thursday that Portugal in 2022 “very wisely” economically persevered, taking into account the “very bad situation in the world”.
The head of state spoke at the RTP premises in Lisbon after participating in the “Christmas in Hospitals” program regarding Prime Minister António Costa’s interview with Visão magazine, in which he said that the deficit “will definitely not exceed 1.5%” in 2022, and growth “will be at least 6.7%”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began by saying that the prime minister “already knows the numbers” because he is informed daily and there are only 15 days left until the end of the year, “so he does not shoot at random.”
“He knows that it was very reasonable, given the very bad situation in the world, in Europe,” the President of the Republic believes, stressing that in the fourth quarter of this year “a fall was expected that did not happen.” .
Citing that he had not yet read the interview, he had only seen the headlines, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza added: “But if you tell me she is optimistic, what do you expect from the prime minister? The prime minister, who says he is full of energy for the future, intends to hold out for four years and that he has cards on his side to fight back.
On the other hand, when asked about the prospect of a slowdown in interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB), he replied: “Let me wait and see, this is what we want, but not to say later that this is bad luck and Lady Christine Lagarde surprises us by increasing more than expected. I’m really looking forward to this as a Christmas present next year, but I want to see it in shoes.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, who was asked to comment on Luis Montenegro’s performance as SDP president, replied that “there is no one opposition, there are several oppositions” and that “each has its own strategy and style.”
“And everyone is doing what I think they should be doing, some more brutally, some less brutally, because they still have a lot of time and a long way to go,” he added.
Earlier in the program “Hospitals of Natal dos”, the President of the Republic called on the Portuguese to “realistic optimism” and, in particular, to those who are sick, wished “Christmas with hope, better health of the body, health of the head, spirit.”
His forecast is that 2023 will start “harder than the end of the year” and he hopes that the second half will “already be with less inflation, i.e. lower prices, more purchasing power”, provided that in the meantime end the war in Ukraine and find cheaper energy.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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