Here are three indicators that should be of great concern to policy makers:
- Em 2019, about 10% of people working in Portugal in 2019 were poor. – that is, every 10,439,242 people out of a total of 4.5 million people. These numbers, however, can be very sparse given that they predate the COVID-19 pandemic and the current financial crisis and only count working people. The trend, warns Susana Peralta, an economist and one of the authors of the report that tallies the data, is for more poverty in the face of inflation.
- A more recent and no less alarming figure was recorded by Eurostat: about every fourth Portuguese child under the age of 18 (22.9%) were living in poverty or social exclusion in 2021.
- Speaking of inflation: Inflation rate in Portugal reached 10.2 in October%, according to the National Statistical Institute (INE). This is the highest value since May 1992.
All in all, and given that the circumstances that triggered this crisis – in particular the war in Ukraine – will not change any time soon, the country may need to brace for a major shock in the near future.
A sign of concern on the part of responsible persons came today from the President of the Republic. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa met with the Council of State and his conclusions were as obvious as they were relevant: to ease inflation and fight poverty.
“The importance of implementing policies to mitigate inflation and its effects and promote growth was emphasized in order to fight poverty, reduce social inequality and improve the well-being of citizens in the medium and long term,” said a statement issued following a meeting at the Palacio da Cidadela in Cascais. .
Marcelo insisted on this issue: a week ago in Susa, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, the President of the Republic stressed that, with or without war, there is an urgent need to reduce the number of poor people by 2030.
“An anti-poverty strategy was already a necessity before the war. We are close to two million people, we have not left there. But despite the war, we must reduce poverty in Portugal by 2030,” he stressed.
Now the responsibility falls on the chief executive, Antonio Costa. With the State Budget for 2023 approved yesterday, in general, the Government has the necessary conditions for implementing social support policies and combating poverty. However, the imposition of “correct accounts” and the reduction of public debt remains.
The scenario tested in the last two days in the Assembly of the Republic has not been seen in Sao Bento for a long time: half-cycle unanimity in its criticism of the government, with the obvious exception of the majority of the PS. .
Criticism from left to right is that the socialist project will invariably lead to more poverty because it does not compensate for the loss in purchasing power caused by rising inflation. With Marcelo on guard, Costa will have to prove his opponents wrong.
