The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Friday that gross domestic product (GDP) growth is 1.5% higher than expected and called for restraint in the analysis of the inflation figures known this Friday.
Speaking to reporters after participating in the awarding of the Museum of the Year by the Portuguese Association of Museology to the National Museum of Soares dos Reis in Porto, the head of state spoke about the figures for the Portuguese economy known on Friday.
“There is a good figure, this is the growth of gross domestic product. The National Institute of Statistics says it was 1.5% in the first quarter to March, which is better than expected, which is good news.” ” He said.
And he continued: “This is good news that justifies the fact that at that time the Bank of Portugal and the international institutions recognized that we have gone further than expected at the end of last year.”
Regarding inflation figures, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was cautious in his analysis: “The least good news, not to say the bad news, is inflation. rises, but remains below the level at which the cost of living of Portuguese people increased, as reported in May.”
“Why I admit that after a month it is still worth waiting, but watching carefully. Exactly one year ago, in May 2023, the then government introduced a zero VAT measure, and this measure led to what was then an instant negative inflation. So the question is whether it is really 3.1%, which is an increase that we did not expect, or whether the starting figure was too low because it coincided with the application of zero VAT. later ceased to exist,” reflected the president of the republic.
In this context, he continued, if this is the first case, then “there is a problem,” since, in his opinion, “inflation has been falling continuously and, apparently, is not falling, but has increased. In this case, it’s because the base starting point was very low, and the actual altitude gain is not higher than European, but better.”
Asking for attention, he said that “rising prices are usually one of the arguments for raising interest rates or not lowering them, which affects the lives of many people.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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