Montenegro believes the country can return to growth of “3, 4 or 5%”

The PSD president said this Thursday that he believes the country is capable of returning to growth of “3, 4 and 5%” and thanked Pedro Nuno Santos for “advertising so well” his tax cut proposal.

At a lunch with about 400 businessmen in Gondomar, Porto, on the penultimate day of campaigning for Sunday’s legislative elections, Luis Montenegro outlined what he said was the “strategy of the next government.”

“We managed to grow 3, 4, 5 percent, we did it. We have already done this in other periods of our history, why should my generation, your generation, doubt their capabilities?” he asked, stating that his country has even more technological tools, more external funding and more qualifications.

For these reasons, Montenegro said it firmly believes in the capabilities of businessmen and Portugal.

“When I’m excited, I’m excited that I stand for creation, for something to grow, I don’t mobilize myself to talk bad about others, I get excited and give all my strength to growth, to creation, to be a country that is worth it “, – he said.

In the same speech, Montenegro ironically thanked PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos for “such a good advertisement” for AD’s tax cut proposal, citing it as “one of the big differences in the economic model.” “between two projects.

“One of the most intriguing things for me in the election campaign was the criticism for advocating lower taxes,” he said, seeing it as a way to “unlock economic growth and low wages in Portugal.”

The dinner was attended by PSD founder Amandio de Azevedo, former party secretary general and minister of the Central Bloc government, now 95 years old.

Montenegro once again emphasized the inclusion of many independent candidates in the AD lists and promised that “this spirit of openness, dialogue and unification will be one of the fundamental pillars of the new Portuguese government.”

Addressing businessmen, he said that it is necessary to “reduce contextual costs, have a more flexible state, less bureaucracy” and, above all, reduce the tax burden.

“This AD understands that labor tax relief is necessary to increase productivity: those who work, who put in their efforts, who contribute their productive capacity, should be rewarded accordingly,” he said.

Montenegro once again clarified that it does not intend to cut support when it states that those who do not work should not earn more than those who work, but “that those who produce should receive a fair remuneration.”

“Authorities and political leaders cannot whistle into the air, noting that the same person, sitting at home, receives more income than if he did not work,” he emphasized, justifying AD’s proposal to lower the IRS to the eighth level.

As for the reduction in IRC advocated by the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition – from 19 to 15% in three years – it was justified in order to attract more investment, both external and from Portuguese national companies.

“The tax burden is the basis of competition,” he said, denying that the proposal would benefit only large companies.

Earlier, the head of the Porto AD list, Miguel Guimarães, highlighted some issues that, in his opinion, are relevant for businessmen from the north.

“We must have an airport that serves the interests of all citizens of the North and all businessmen. We cannot have an airline that is not a factor of national unity,” he said, reiterating that TAP must indeed be implemented. privatized.

Regarding the high-speed line, the former President of the Order of Physicians believed that one could not simply think about the lines without changing the railway gauge from the current Iberian gauge to the European one.