The Democratic Alliance will present the outlines of its economic program this Wednesday

The Democratic Alliance (AD) will present its economic program this Wednesday, with the cost of proposals already announced such as lowering the IRS, especially for the youth and middle class, and the IRC to 15% at the end of the legislature due to be included.

The program will be presented by PSD President Luis Montenegro at 16:30 at the Lisbon Congress Centre.

This will be followed by a question period during which the economists who prepared the program will be available, a party source said.

A week ago, PSD and SDS-PP presidents Luis Montenegro and Nuno Melo met with 17 invited economists, including former PSD ministers Manuela Ferreira Leite, Maria Luis Albuquerque, Braga de Macedo and Miguel Cadille and others such as Abel Mateus. , António Nogueira Leite, João Cesar das Neves, João Moreira Rato or Ricardo Reis.

At the meeting, which also included PSD leaders António Leitán Amaro, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, Pedro Duarte and Pedro Reis, and from SDS-PP Paulo Nuncio, Cecilia Meireles, Bruno Bobone, Leonardo Matias and Ricardo Pinheiro Alves, will others join “ economists from the AD team,” some of whom will join the list of coalition deputies, such as João Valle e Azevedo, an economist with a PhD at Stanford University and member of the Bank of Portugal, or Oscar Afonso, professor and director of the Faculty of Economics of Porto.

On this occasion, the PSD President once again committed to cutting the IRS for the middle class, which in this year’s state budget the party wanted to expand to an eighth income category, as well as for youth with a maximum rate of 15% up to 35 years of age.

In the IRC, Montenegro committed to gradually reducing the rate by two percentage points per year, which in three years will increase this tax from the current 21% to 15%.

At the AD congress last Sunday, the PSD leader also presented as an election commitment “an exemption from contributions and taxes on performance bonuses up to one month’s salary”, a proposal that had already been defended by the Portuguese Business Confederation (CIP). .

“This 15th tax-free month symbolizes the idea that doing more and doing better is worth doing and merit is rewarded,” he explained.

A week ago, when asked how he would finance these measures, the PSD president referred all reports to the macroeconomic program that will be presented this Wednesday, but immediately left a guarantee.

“The basis of our proposals is a sense of responsibility; we will not participate in auctions of proposals,” he assured, noting that the AD measures “will in no way harm the balance of public accounts.”

Faced with journalists’ insistence on cuts, Montenegro says it has “identified” sectors in which the country can be more efficient.

“I’m not going to cut anything, I’m going to handle it better,” he said.

According to the weekly Expresso, the PSD macroeconomic scenario calls for economic growth of around 3.5% until 2028, pointing to 4% in the next legislature, as well as a public debt target below 90% of GDP at the end of the legislature.

According to Luis Montenegro, it is “through the reform of income from work and companies” that AD intends to place Portugal “in a long cycle of economic growth” above the European average and “to implement public policies that will solve the problems of women’s lives”, namely in the field health, education and housing.

In all these areas, he argued, it was necessary to rely on the provision of public services “not only by public authorities” but also by the social and private sectors.

Portugal will hold early legislative elections on March 10, 2024, planned by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, following the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa on November 7, which was the subject of an investigation by the Portuguese Ministry of State. Supreme Court Court.

The election campaign for legislative elections will take place from February 25 to March 8.